The Golden State
by Lafayette1777
Summary: Defined, Solace is "An easing of grief, loneliness, or sorrow." Will generally tried to achieve the expectations his name had set for him. During TLH, a quest to find Percy has surprising results.
1. Lost

**Author's Note: The definition in the title is courtesy of the 1969 volume of Webster's New World Dictionary of the English language. This is the first chapter of a multi chapter story, set during The Lost Hero, about some of the quests lead in search of Percy, other than Jason, Piper, and Leo's. So enjoy, and please review!**

He peered through the screen door, finding the person he was looking for still asleep in the bottom bunk nearest to the entrance. She twitched like a dog in her dreams.

Will Solace swung open the door to the almost empty Athena cabin.

"Violet!" He called. "Wake up, it's an emergency!"

She yelped, leaping upwards from sleep only to smack her forehead into the bunk above her.

"What day is it?" She screeched, and then swore, rubbing at a spot above her eye.

"Sunday." Will replied.

"Sunday?" She looked at him like he was a moron. "Piss off. Sleep-in day." She turned her back to him, pulling the sheet up over her head.

"What part of 'it's an emergency' did you not get?"

"What kind of emergency?" She asked, not removing the sheet from her face.

"I won't tell you unless you get out of bed."

She groaned. He knew he had her. She was not a patient individual.

"Come on." She stuck her hands out from under the blankets and he pulled her into a standing position.

"It's fucking freezing." She muttered. "What's going on?"

She was wearing yoga pants and a tank top against the December in Long Island chill.

"Put some clothes on first." He said. She didn't object.

The Athena cabin was empty, having all gone to breakfast, pushed back till nine on Sundays. Violet took the idea of sleep-in Sundays to a whole new level.

She pushed a flashlight, iPod, and cube of rosin off the top of her steamer trunk, and then pulled a couple items of clothing at random. She sniffed a shirt, and deemed it clean enough.

She changed quickly in the cold air. Will did not look away.

"Pervert." She accused in good humor.

"I've seen you naked, Violet, it's nothing new."

She smiled, pulling her shirt down. He leaned down to kiss her gently.

Later, after tying on her Puma sneakers, she asked "What's the emergency?"

"It's movie night and nobody has anything new to watch."

She looked at him. "You asshole! You woke me up on a Sunday to go buy fucking movies?"

He laughed as she lunged forward to punch him. "It was a bet. Also I thought you'd enjoy it. Travis is letting me borrow his motorcycle."

"A bet? With who?"

"That depends what you're planning to do with them."

"That depends who they are."

"The bet was that I couldn't wake you up on sleep in days without sustaining some sort of fatal injury." He grinned cheekily. "I won."

"I'm going back to bed."

"No, now you have to come with me."

"I don't have to do shit."

"But you're all dressed. Come on, I don't wanna go alone." He pleaded with his big brown eyes. He was one of the few Apollo kids who took after their mothers, and consequently did not possess the same sun kissed blonde look of his siblings.

"Oh, fuck you." She let a smile creep onto her lips as she grabbed her coat.

"Love you too."

He lead her out into the camp, blanketed with snow at this time of year. A few kids were milling about, trying to get their body temperature up. Despite the cold, though, the camp was more peaceful than it had been in a long while. Six months had passed since the Titan War, and though there was a constant stream of new campers and continuing construction on the new wing of camp, things were beginning to settle down after the chaos of the war.

The dining hall was half empty, breakfast having ended a few hours earlier. Will waved to a few kids from his cabin, still getting used to being the counselor in charge, as of six months ago.

The Stoll brothers kept their motorcycle, which they'd bought and fixed up themselves, behind the Big House. Specifically, in the gardening shed, the one place Mr. D absolutely never stepped foot in.

Will pulled the keys from his coat pocket, and handed Violet the single helmet.

"I feel like the driver would have more use for the helmet, should we actually get in a crash." Violet remarked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You wanna drive?" He asked.

"That's not my point. And I've never actually ridden one of these before anyway."

"Really? You're gonna love it, trust me."

She rolled her eyes at his subject change. They kept to the shadows as they pushed the bike down the hill, away from the camp's protection.

"I assume you're armed?" he asked, straddling the bike.

"As always." She held up her left wrist, exposing the vaguely African bracelet, embossed with cowrie shells and and brown, earthen beads. When taken off, the bracelet morphed in Violet's trademark black half swords, which were a gift from her mother.

"Good, because I'm not." He figured the attention attracted from carrying around a bow and quiver outweighed the notion of blending in with mortals.

"We'll be quick."

She swung one leg over the back of the bike, pulling the helmet over her shoulder length red hair, and wrapping her arms around Will's waist.

Convinced Violet had a good grip, he punched the gas and they sped forward. He kept his speed down, partly because of the half plowed roads, and partly neither he or Violet were New York natives, and had a very rudimentary set of directions on how to get to the nearest shopping mall.

Will was seventeen, but spent the first ten years of his life with his mom in Louisiana. For the past few years he'd been living full time at camp. Violet was sixteen, coming to camp at age seven, but until recently had spent the majority of her time in Cincinnati with her dad.

The cold air went straight through their coats, and Will regretted not layering up.

They managed to get where they were going without a couple U-turns. Their destination was a massive outlet mall, complete with food court. They made a beeline for a movie store to their left.

One of Violet's best qualities, Will had decided at some point in the many years he'd known her, was that she had excellent taste in movies, as well as an encyclopedic knowledge of all things movie and TV related. Will stepped back and let her work her magic among the racks of DVDs.

"Can they be R rated?"

"I believe we're accepting all ratings."

"Cool."

She began handing him movies. He glanced at the titles as the stack grew. _Fight Club. The Incredibles. X-Men. The Dark Knight. Kick-Ass. Inception. The Simpsons Movie. Serenity. Ferris Bueller's Day Off._

She sighed as she came across a title. "This movie sucks, but I think it's appropriate. Also it's basically lady porn, with all the guys in it."

She handed him _Troy_, with Brad Pitt and Eric Bana.

"Violet." He said, after a while. "I think we have enough."

"Okay." She didn't look happy about limiting herself. He handed her the pile.

At the register, she pushed the stack of movies on the counter, and pulled out her wallet, which was decorated with music notes. Violet, despite her mother, was less interested in battle strategy, though she very much enjoyed sword fighting, and was more interested in playing her instrument of choice, viola.

"Wanna get some food?" he asked her, as the cashier loaded up a plastic bag with their purchases.

"Sounds good." Violet agreed, her stomach reminding her of the absence of breakfast.

They found a pizza place and settled into an indoor table. After a moment, she felt Will's eyes on her.

"What?"

"Do you think the guy who sold us the DVDs thought you were hot?" He grinned at her, taking a bite of pizza.

"Really?" She smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"You didn't notice?" Will asked. "He was staring at you."

"Was he good looking? I can't remember." She returned his smirk. "Ya know, in case I have to ditch you, I wanna have options."

"You seriously didn't see him looking at you? I was expecting you to look up and give him the death stare at any moment."

"What can I say, I was thinking about Batman."

"You are quite possibly the most socially moronic person I have ever met."

"And you're a hopeless romantic." She tilted her head. "Quite a pair, aren't we?"

They were both momentarily distracted as a woman with an ice cream cone and a ridiculously loud voice entered their vicinity. They were similar, in that like most demigods, they had the attention spans of squirrels.

"We should go." Will said, the humor leaving his face. He had a bad feeling taking root in his gut.

"I agree."

They threw away what remained of their food, and headed as fast they could without breaking into a run toward the parking lot. Back on the motorcycle, they quickly left all signs of society behind them, speeding onto mostly empty roads, and back to camp.

Will stopped at a red light on a deserted street.

"You're not serious." Violet said, raising the visor on her helmet.

"Don't."

"I'm not saying anything."

The light turned green again, and Will pressed the gas just as car came whizzing by in front of them, coming down the cross street at a hideous speed and running the light. Will slammed on the brakes as the car sped past, less than a foot in front of them. Surprised, both ended up flying up over the handle bars, and landing hard in the car's wake.

Will smacked down hard on the concrete and hardened snow, but had the sense to cover his head the best he could. Violet, lying on her side, saw the driver of the car look back to make sure they weren't dead, than speed off.

"That motherfucker." Violet said, pulling off her helmet and giving the driver the finger, though he was long gone.

"That," Will said. "Is why I don't run red lights."

Violet seemed to be okay, except for a torn pant leg and a scrape oozing blood beneath it. Will was worse for the wear, having had no helmet. The ice and snow had cut up his chin, and his coat sleeves had not offered much protection for his arms, now bleeding in several places.

"You okay?" He asked Violet.

"Bruised, but alive. You?"

He pushed himself up onto his feet carefully, running a system check. Scrapes and bruises seemed to be the extent of his injuries.

"I'm okay." he said. Violet came toward him anyway, looking up at the cuts on his chin.

"That's looks like it stings." She remarked.

"I'll live. Do you think we could walk back to camp from here?"

"Definitely. It's only another mile or so." They each took a handle bar, and began to push the bike back down the road.

"Do ya think that guy was a monster?" Violet asked.

"No, I think he was just an asshole."

"Yeah, if he was a monster he would have finished us off."

"Bad luck, I guess."

Forty minutes later, they were back inside camp limits, pushing the bike back into the garden shed.

Will pulled the keys from the motorcycle, and followed Violet as they came around the Big House. They were surprised to see a large group of campers gathered on the porch. There was an urgent tone to the hum of voices, and they soon identified Annabeth at the center of the action.

"What's going on?" Violet asked no one in particular.

"I don't know." Will replied.


	2. Something Bad

When he emerged from the Big House meeting room, Violet was waiting, leaning against the porch with something that resembled nonchalance.

"How'd it go?" She asked.

"Annabeth's taking my chariot to go looking for Percy. Hera gave her a vision, apparently. Something about a guy with one shoe. If they don't find him, though, they'll start sending out quests. I volunteered." Will was still getting used to attending the head counselor meetings—Violet was supremely jealous of his new privileges.

"Do ya think the shit's gonna hit the fan again?" He began to lead her back toward the Apollo cabin, as the rest of the counselors piled out from the pale blue house.

"I dunno." He replied. "There's still some part of me that's trying to believe that this is just a fluke, some unfortunate fuck up, because Percy and Annabeth can handle it. But I can't help but think that this is the beginning of something. And usually, for us, somethings aren't good."

Violet stuffed her hands in her coat pockets and continued the rest of the walk in silence. The Apollo cabin was empty, and he held the door for her as they filed in.

"Did people ask about your chin?" She said, peeling off her coat.

"I told them it was a hickie." He smiled the best he can.

"Nice." She took a seat on his bunk, a top one the farthest from the door. The place of honor for the head counselor, being the best bed in most of the conventional cabins. He took a seat on the piano bench to poke around his foot locker, finding the med kit.

Violet leaned back on his neatly made bed, glancing at the objects stacked along the windowsill. A book called _A Scanner Darkly_ had a page turned down about midway through it, and a small reading light resting on top of it. He had a metal water bottle too, and an iPod. Posters were pinned to all available wall space, bands and singers like Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Mumford and Sons, and Foo Fighters. The rest of the Apollo cabin mirrored his cluttered yet cozy bunk. The cabin was colorful and bright and welcoming, with posters and art and instruments strewn about. A widescreen TV and a bunch of pillows occupied one corner, next to the staircase that lead down into the soundproof rooms for instrument practice, below the cabin. The Apollo cabin welcomed all, while Violet's own cabin more than often felt like a private joke, with the cryptic notes and battle plans lying about, and the stacks of books on every horizontal space. The Athena cabin was not cluttered in coziness, but in obsession for getting things done and cleaning up later. And she fit in well with her siblings, reading and writing and collecting knowledge constantly, despite her own over impulsiveness, which had her strategy skills lacking. She liked fighting, and she was good enough to feel like she had control. Her siblings had an alternate view—simply to point her in the right direction and get the hell out of the way.

Will, meanwhile, was cleaning his chin wound, the most serious of his injuries. He winced as he dabbed on rubbing alcohol blindly.

"Come up here. I'll do it."

He shed his coat and shoes before throwing up the med kit to the top bunk. He climbed the ladder and Violet scooted over to make room, careful to keep her bloody pant leg above his bedding.

He handed her the already bloodied towelette, and she continued to dab at his face, but with more precision. Soon, she was taping a square of gauze over the scrapes.

"Are your arms okay?" She asked.

"They're minor. Your leg need stitches?"

"Yep." He helped her reposition her leg so it was part of the way in his lap. In the med kit, he found lidocaine as well as a needle and thread.

Will was especially good with medicine, even more so than his siblings. The procedures came natural to him, all he had to do was half look at an operation once and he could replicate it.

He plunged a syringe into the soft spot at the center of the little vial of pain killer, and then injected it into the center of Violet's four inch long cut, running down the front of her shin. She sucked in a breath and waited for the numbing to take over. A few minutes later, he snipped the end of his thread to complete a neat line of stitches.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

With very little rational thought in his mind, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. She reciprocated without hesitation, deepening it.

A few minutes later, the cabin door burst open, and they both jumped.

Jane, Will's second in command, was standing in the doorway, looking vaguely horrified. Jane didn't emote much. She was fifteen, with a pair of icy blue eyes and a dirty blonde braid trailing down her back.

They sat up quickly on Will's bed, Violet pulling down her shirt hurriedly and turning pink in the cheeks.

"What's up, Jane?" Will asked, scratching the back of his neck self consciously.

"I heard you're volunteering for the next quest."

"Should one be necessary."

"I wanna come too."

"First of all, it's not up to me, it's up to whoever leading the quest. Second, if I go, I need you here to look after the rest of the cabin."

"That's bullshit, and you know it." Jane retorted. "Hope can look after the others as I could. Probably better."

"Why do you wanna go so bad?" Violet asked.

She glared at Will. "I don't wanna take over this cabin. So naturally I have to make sure you don't die."

Will smiled. "I've got Violet for that."

"Yeah." Agreed Violet.

Jane gave an irritated sigh.

"Look, I'll see what I can do." Will relented. "No promises, though, ok?"

Jane crossed her arms. "Thank you." She turned on her heel, and let the door slam behind her.

Will and Violet exchanged a look.

"She's lying." Violet said.

Will nodded. "She knows I can take care of myself. What's her game, do you think?"

Violet shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

"Go on the quest and see what happens." He smiled ruefully. "For an Athena kid, you're really not good with planning."

"So be it." She replied, and then wiggled her eyebrows at him. "I think my cabin's empty."

"That's all the planning I need."

m m m

It's later that Will is jarred from sleep in Violet's bunk.

They yank on some clothes and sprint out into the snow, only to see a familiar gold chariot plummeting toward the surface of the lake.

The chariot begins to sink, and soon several heads are bobbing up in the cold water, moving steadily toward shore.

"Shit." Said Will.


	3. Nothing Yet

No Percy. Three sixteen year olds instead.

Violet had followed Will at his sprinting pace down to the lakefront, where Annabeth, Butch, and three strangers were wringing themselves dry.

The chariot was wrecked, the tip of it sinking below the surface of the frosty water by the time Will could see it up close. Annabeth promised to get it fixed.

Violet managed to catch up with Annabeth before she headed off to show around the new girl, Piper, who was way past claiming age.

"Nothing?" Violet asked, reaching her sister's side.

"We found the one shoed guy." She motioned toward the blonde guy, with the weird tattoo on his wrist, heading away with Chiron. "But he has amnesia, or something."

"Does this mean you're gonna go look for him now?" Violet questioned as they began to head up the hill toward the forest, with Piper in tow. "Percy, I mean."

"Unless something new happens, definitely." Annabeth was emotionless.

"You mind if I come?"

"And Will?"

"Most likely."

"I'd be glad to have you along."

Violet nodded. "I'll talk to you later about details."

She waved to Piper before jogging back toward camp. Will had headed toward the Hephaestus cabin with Leo, and the crowd around the lake had begun to dissipate. She headed down to the arena, hoping to unwind with some relaxing sword practice.

Violet found herself challenged to a duel by Clarisse La Rue almost immediately, as was standard protocol whenever the two were armed. It wasn't that they were enemies (though they weren't quite friends, either), but they were almost evenly matched in skill with weapons. The only difference being that Clarisse had even less strategy than Violet, which was her downfall more than often.

Fighting was one of the few things Violet could claim to be very good at it. She was merciless, powerful, quick on her feet. When she was fighting, the rest of the world was pushed from her mind, and abstract concept, a gray blob. It was the only time could she properly focus. Her body was built for combat, with powerful shoulders and broad hips as well as muscled thighs and arms, though the she was relatively short, and stocky from so many years of training. She was not a particle physicist, or a super model, or a famous hero, but she was able to say _no _ with extreme prejudice.

She pulled her red hair back in a pony tail, and shed her coat as Clarisse stretched. Yes, this would be interesting. Fights with Clarisse always were.

"So, Violet, you ready to get beaten?" Clarisse grinned maniacally, lifting maimer from it's position of leaning against a bench on the perimeter of the sandy arena. To their left, the Demeter cabin was working on archery. At the moment, though, they had the sword practice nook to themselves.

"You think this is your day, huh?" Violet returned her grin, pulling off her bracelet. It morphed into the half swords' golden hilt, and the black blades elongated from that, one curved blade for each hand.

"Well, with Percy gone..."

Violet let her grin drop. Even Clarisse looked regretful at letting that statement slip. She definitely was not a fan of Percy Jackson, but the daughter of Ares knew that his disappearance was only a sign of worse things to come.

"You ready?" Violet asked, taking a stance.

"Yep." Clarisse grabbed her shield. The Demeter kids had come over to watch the fight, with Katie Gardner refereeing.

"You may begin." Katie said, moving out of the way quickly.

The moment Katie was out from between the two demigods, Violet lunged forward, and the match was begun.

It was a close fight. So ridiculously close, that it seemed every other second one or the other girl would be about to deliver the death blow, and then get knocked back to square one again. Clarisse was correct in that it was, indeed, her day.

It appeared to come to an end when Violet stomped a boot down on Clarisse's solar plex, pressing the tip of one long sword to her neck.

"Nice." Someone said, and Violet looked over her shoulder to find Will and Leo had joined the crowd. Katie had yet to call the victory, so Clarisse sprang up, kicked Violet in the head, and planted her spear in the dirt next to Violet's temple.

"Damn." Violet said. "Savor this moment, because revenge is a bitch."

Clarisse laughed. The crowd looked slightly stunned, as seeing Violet beaten at her own game was a rare sight.

Violet had managed somehow to land in one of the snow drifts, piled along the edges of the arena after being cleared off the sandy ground. Consequently, she was simultaneously freezing and sweating as Will extended a hand down to her.

"I blame you for that." She said to him, touching the tip of her swords and letting them descend back into a bracelet.

"Understandable." Will smiled. "But I think the real enemy here is ADD."

"Not peer pressure?" Leo grinned goofily. Violet introduced herself, as Will put his arms around her in an attempt to warm her cold skin.

"I'm gonna go get cleaned up." She grabbed her coat off one of the benches and kissed Will quickly. "See you at dinner."

"Yep."

She glanced at Leo, and nodded to Clarisse before heading back to her cabin, and then the bath house.

Her stitched leg stung when the hot water hit it, but the pain was overshadowed by the chance to be warm for the first time in hours. She combed her fingers through her hair to rid it of sweat and dirt, to find Clarisse's kick had left a lump on the side of her head. It was tender to the touch. A bruise had also formed above her eye, where it'd connected with the bunk above her own that morning.

She sighed. It had been a long day.

She climbed from the shower stall, and booked it back to her cabin. A few of her siblings were lounging on their bunks or seated at one of the desks. She bid a few of them hello and then rifled through her trunk for clean clothes.

The Athena cabin was bare compared to Apollo's. A few posters had been pinned to the walls, but they were largely ignored. The belongings laid on or near bunks were not nearly as eccentric, mostly just notebooks and regular books and laptops, as well as a few cell phones. Violet's viola case was propped against the end of her bed, as well as a folder full of music.

She briefly debated whether to wear shorts or jeans, then remembered what months it was and realized she was standing next to a radiator. She opted for jeans and a black long sleeve shirt, with her usual snow boots and coat.

She called to Malcolm and Soletta, the only siblings in the cabin who had yet to report to dinner, and the three layered up, heading out into the cold once again. It was six in the evening, but the winter weather had night falling early.

"I hear you're going on a quest." Malcolm said, hands stuck firmly in his pockets.

"Looks like it." Violet replied. "It's more like a search party, though."

"Is it your first one?" Soletta asked.

"Yeah."

"Man, I'd kill for a quest." Malcolm muttered.

"I sincerely hope not." Soletta told him, smiling.

They reached the dining pavilion, meeting up with the Athena table just in time for the food to appear.


	4. Sit Down

**Author's Note: hello, readers! Hope you enjoy this next chapter, and please review! **

When Rachel said that the Great Prophecy had begun, it's all Violet could do to hope that her face didn't betray the absolute fear raging in her mind.

Ten seconds ago, she had decided to push the Percy's disappearance and the Prophecy and her upcoming quest out of her mind and focus her worries on the simple thought of when the next game of capture the flag would be. It was easy, and it had an answer: Whenever the cabin nine could get the dragon under control. It was nice, because it wasn't her problem.

Minutes before that, she'd be looking at the multicolored embers from the campfire, mixing with the clear, bright stars, and listening to Will sing elatedly at the center of the amphitheater. Not really thinking about anything in particular.

But now her mind was forced to focus, to dwell on their impending stress, if not doom.

The campers were all talking at once, the younger ones beginning to panic, the ones who were at camp during the first war just looking faintly miserable.

Chiron's bearded face was dark. His words matched his expression.

"The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. _Ancient_ magic, older than the Gods. It is a day when things...stir."

"Okay." Annabeth said, moving right along, with an equally dark expression. "Thank you, Captain Sunshine."

The new guys would be going on the real quest, the one that would save Hera, hopefully. The son of Zeus, son of Hephaestus, and the newly claimed daughter of Aphrodite. Violet did not envy them. In fact, she didn't envy any demigod at the moment, including herself.

Annabeth announced that she'd be leaving first thing in the morning. She locked eyes with Violet and Will in turn, and they both nodded.

The campfire activities ended early that evening, after the gloomy turn of events not even the Apollo kids felt like singing. As the campers shuffled off in the direction of the cabins, Violet jogged down to the now purple fire, where Chiron, Annabeth, and Rachel were conversing. Will appeared a second later, with Jane following him like a second shadow.

"So leaving right after breakfast sound good for you two?" Annabeth looked between Violet and Will.

"Yeah, I think so." Violet said, just as Jane elbowed Will in the ribs.

"Jane is wondering if she can come along." He addressed Annabeth, and then Chiron.

"Really?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

Jane nodded silently.

"I guess, I'm okay with it." Annabeth still looked puzzled. "If it's ok with your senior counselor, that is."

Will nodded, and then turned to Jane, whose emotionless eyes were flickering the firelight. "Be ready." He said simply.

She left without another word.

"She's an odd one." Chiron said, once she had disappeared into the darkness.

"Do you know what she's hiding?" Rachel asked Will.

He shrugged. "She's loyal, so it's probably nothing big." He sounded reassuring, but looked unsure.

"Anyone else you would like to bring along?" Chiron asked Annabeth.

"I dunno...we have plenty already."

"You should grab that Hecate guy...Elwood. He's pretty cool." Rachel put in.

"Oh, yeah, his magic tricks kick-ass." Will smiled, despite everything.

Elwood Saturn had come to camp about eight months back, along with Inez Ventimiglia, daughter of Dionysus, and Nina Bray, daughter of Nyx. None of them had been claimed until after the war, when the new terms had been negotiated with the Gods. Already, though, Elwood was something of a war hero, having accidentally cast a spell on a platoon of monsters, leading them to hold hands and skip off into the sunset. Unfortunately for the monsters, the direction of the sunset involved falling off a bridge.

"If he wants to come, I have no problem with it." Annabeth said, and then turned to Rachel. "Do we get a prophecy?"

Rachel pursed her lips. "I'll see if anything comes to me overnight, but since it's not a true quest...well, who knows."

Annabeth nodded.

"I wish I could come along." Rachel added. "But I think I'd be more of a liability, if things go badly. Not saying they will, but, you know."

Annabeth smiled at her.

"We need you here anyway." Chiron laid a hand on the red head's shoulder.

"You have a destination in mind, I presume?" Will asked Annabeth.

"I was thinking the west coast."

"Any reason?" Violet asked. "I'm sorry, but he really could be anywhere."

"Gotta start somewhere. Chiron recommended California, because of Mount Tam and all." Annabeth explained.

Chiron glanced at the ground, shuffled a huff self consciously. None of the teenagers noticed.

"Sounds good to me." Violet said. She was tired of standing still. "I'll go track down Elwood and ask him." She bolted off without another word, feeling the need to have the ice cold air brush against her face.

Will wandered back to his cabin, through the already boot trodden snow. Darkness had fallen, and he was suddenly very homesick for Louisiana's warm nights.

He sighed, thinking that Camp Half-Blood had barely had a chance to sit down before they were up and fighting a new menace. This sucked.

Lights out had already been called by the time he returned to the Apollo cabin. He used a small flashlight to change into pajamas and climb the ladder up to his bunk. He looked down at the bed beneath his, Jane's, and saw her fast asleep, clutching a small piece of paper in the hand that rested on her chest.

He laid back, pulling the blankets up to his chin. He was dead tired, but the night's events kept him staring at the ceiling in thought. The prophecy had begun, and this time he had a whole cabin to look out for.

He remembered back four years ago, when Percy had first come to camp. Things had been peaceful for a good long time at that point, or as peaceful as they got at a camp for the half divine, and so no one thought much of the new guy, other than the fact that he had managed to make friends with Annabeth pretty quick and fought a minotaur.

It was when he was claimed, however, that got people on edge. Children of the Big Three had that effect, even without ominous prophecies hanging over their heads.

Will had been a hell of a lot younger at the time. All he thought about was archery, learning to heal from Lee Fletcher, and just having fun at camp. He was just another Apollo guy, coming up with poetry on the spot and filling the cabin semi circle with over cheerful music.

In the past few years, though, he had gained a foothold, established himself in camp. He had people he cared for deeply and people who cared deeply for him. It seemed that with everything he'd gained, the main thing he had now was just a shit load to lose.


	5. Skill

Violet awoke the next morning, earlier than usual.

She had slept horribly, tossing and turning through most of the night. She peeled back her bedding, swinging her legs over the side. Glancing at Annabeth's bunk, she saw that her half sister was already up and out of the cabin.

She silently got dressed as her siblings slept. Finding a backpack, she stuffed it full of extra clothes, a water bottle, ambrosia and nectar, and various other necessities. She had never been on a quest, but everyone at camp knew the basics.

She pushed open the door, and trotted down the cabin #6's marble steps. More snow had fallen overnight, but the sun had come out, warming the bright white.

Violet cut a new path through the freshly fallen snow, in the direction of the dining pavilion. Already there, and eating a light breakfast at one of the empty tables, was Annabeth, Will, Jane, and Elwood.

She recalled her trip to the Hecate cabin the night before, thinking of the blue candles illuminating the dark walls and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer poster. Elwood had been puzzled by her request, but agreed with a kind of nervous excitement. Violet had to admit, he did seem like a random choice. She and Will had known him for a while, and were convinced he was an alright guy, even through a tough trip to camp. She figured it was kind of a 'why not?' situation.

The five were all dressed for an outing, each set with backpack, boots, thick coat, and plenty of weaponry. Elwood was shuffling his deck of cards compulsively, his lips set in a nervous line. He was Asian, about Jane's age, with short purple hair that stuck straight up toward the ceiling. Violet's ADD mind wondered if his hair did that naturally, if he styled it like that, or if he used magic to make it stand up.

Jane and Annabeth were the epitome of emotionless, their eyes staring off into nothing, their faces masks of determination.

Will had his usual expression of cautious optimism, counting the arrows in his quiver. It seemed he would be relying on the mist to cover up his unfortunately conspicuous weapon of choice.

Violet made sure her bracelet was on her wrist, though she couldn't remember the last time she'd taken it off, and took a seat next to Will. Her stomach was doing flip flops, and she had absolutely no appetite, but she choked down a scone nonetheless. Will smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Morning, sunshine." He said, his mass of dark hair as messy as ever.

"Shut your face." She replied.

Rachel and Chiron had come to see them off as they piled into one of the Delphi strawberry vans, Annabeth at the wheel.

"Gods be with you." Chiron said solemnly.

"Good luck." Rachel smiled.

Annabeth nodded stoically. If the others hadn't known better, they'd have thought she was holding back tears.

m m m

It was (and still is) roughly forty hours from New York to San Francisco. They had decided they do it in shifts, and once everyone had driven for as long as possible, they'd find a motel.

Annabeth had opted to drive first, as she knew the way to get out of New York the fastest. The other passengers settled in for a long drive. Jane pulled a crime novel from her pack and settled in next to a window silently. Elwood sanctioned off the last row of seats for himself, and began playing solitaire with his worn deck of cards. As far as anybody new, he carried them around everywhere he went.

Will put in his earbuds, and realizing Violet had already passed out on his arm, he repositioned so that he had an arm around her.

No one spoke, for they knew if they opened their mouths, the subject would come around to the fact that they had no plan and no leads other the very slight possibility that Percy was kidnapped and brought to Mount Tam, for whatever reason.

Annabeth drove for the rest of the day, and they stopped at a pizza place for dinner around eight in the evening.

"Wanna see a magic trick?" Elwood asked, once they'd taken a booth by the window.

"Yeah." Will removed his arm from behind Violet's shoulders and leaned forward. Even Jane paid attention as Elwood spread the cards out in one hand, in a fan shaped configuration.

"Pick a card." Will plucked one from the group with his tan colored fingers. He showed to it to Violet. Five of hearts.

"Put it back in, and shuffle it." Will did a quick bridge and handed it back to Elwood, who chucked the entire deck at the window to his right.

Will and Violet exchanged a look as all but one card fell back down the table. The king of spades stuck to the window.

"That's not his card." Violet said.

Elwood just smiled.

Will reached out to pull the king from the glass, only to find another card hidden beneath it. It was his—the five of hearts. Not only that, but it seemed to be stuck to the outside of the window, looking in at them.

"Holy shit." Will said, laughing. Even Annabeth smiled at the trick.

Though, was it really a trick if your mother was the goddess of magic?

The mood lightened slightly as they dug into their pizza. They began to talk and joke, instead of the heavy silence from the day's drive.

At some point, Violet looked over to see that the card stuck to the outside of the glass had disappeared. She smiled.

They left at nine thirty, and Violet took the wheel. Will piled into the shotgun seat, and Annabeth laid down to sleep in the back. Jane and Elwood resumed their positions in reading and playing solitaire.

At some point in the wee hours of the morning, Violet stopped for gas. Will was napping in the seat next to her, and she poked him in the ribs.

"Uh?" he said.

"Wanna get something to eat?" She gestured to the convenience store connected to the gas station.

"Uh." He affirmed, and pushed open his door. He stumbled around to Violet's side, rubbing his dark eyes. They strolled through the doors and into the brightly lit store.

"When's the last time you talked to your dad?" he asked her, as she perused the junk food aisles.

She looked at him sharply. "Does it matter?"

"I mean, we'll be passing through Ohio...might wanna say hi."

"We already passed Ohio, dear."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Then where the hell are we?"

"Wyoming."

"Damn." He muttered. "Well, maybe on the way back then."

She turned to him. "Look, I appreciate you caring about my family life, but this is honestly not your concern."

She pushed past him toward the counter, coffee in one hand, chocolate in the other. He bit his lip and followed her.

"Nevermind." He muttered.

Violet's father, Phil Alexander, had met Athena when he was twenty, and studying to be an architect at Brown University. After Violet was born, Athena provided safe passage to camp when her daughter was ready. For a while, Violet would spend summers at camp and the school year with her dad in Ohio. Two years ago, though, her dad had remarried a woman named Crystal, and they'd had a son, Violet's half brother, named Logan. Since then, Violet had slowly spent more and more time at camp, until she was classified as year around, like Will had been since he was ten. Unlike Violet, though, Will visited his mother whenever possible in Lafayette.

It was obvious to anyone that Phil's seemingly separate life had put Violet off. She came home for Christmas, usually, and sometimes Will tagged along to help her through the awkwardness. He loved having her with him for the whole year, but the rift between her and her father was not making anyone happy.

As the cashier rung up Violet's food, Will plucked his bow string. He had a weird feeling in his stomach, and apprehension he couldn't account for. The cashier looked at him strangely, and Will wondered vaguely what his bow looked like to mortal eyes.

Violet nudged him as she pushed a couple of bills across the table. To their right, a middle aged woman was looking at the beverage freezers, and holding the leash to a chihuahua, which yipped unhappily at the two demigods.

_Shit._ Will thought, as he met Violet's eyes.

"Let's move." She said simply.


	6. Still Intact

Outside, Jane was leaning against the van, staring absently into space. She snapped to when she saw Will and Violet come bolting from the store, a fat lady and chihuahua waddling after them.

The sad part is, Jane thought, this isn't even unusual.

The Chimera had already morphed into it's true form by the time the two had reached Jane. Violet dropped her styrofoam cup; it ruptured and sprayed all three of their pant legs with coffee. Jane didn't really expect her to mutter an apology—not surprisingly, her brother's girlfriend said nothing.

Jane saw Will loading an arrow, and Violet yanking off her bracelet. They weren't running-the Chimera would catch them easily, even in the van. Jane banged on the sliding door to wake up the others.

The Chimera leaped forward, and all three of them ducked out of the way. The sunk it's claws deep into the van door, just as Elwood slid it open, tossing the massive beast to the side in the process.

It recovered quickly, and Jane could practically see the anger boiling in the animal's black eyes.

Annabeth turned invisible the moment she stepped from the car, presumably with her bronze knife in tow. Jane herself was unarmed, having left her quiver in the van when she stepped out to breathe for a moment. She saw Violet take a fighting stance and Will take aim with his bow, as Elwood's deck of cards began to levitate in front of him like projectiles.

Then everything happened very quickly, as everyone seemed to move at once. But for Jane, though, it turned to slow motion as she looked down at her shirt.

m m m

Will always had a fascination with watching Violet fight.

It was almost funny to watch the person he knew to cry during a viewing of _The Lion King_ twist and turn with such merciless grace. It was part of the reason he loved her—her contradictions, her complete lack of filter, her intimidation. She was strong, and comfortable with herself when she was in her element. And though she may have been just a little be crazy, she was definitely never boring.

And he figured she liked him because he was a steadying force, keeping her within reason, getting her to slow down when she was going to get herself killed. He was the lighter side of the yin and yang, the part that knew how to show that you cared about someone. And though their opposing personalities drove each other crazy sometimes, they made one whole person when each other's presence.

And, he thought with a smile, she has a a nice ass.

The Chimera had taken three arrows from him so far and still had yet to turn into dust. It roared, rearing up on it's hind legs and slashing it's claws through the gas pump that Jane had been pressed up against. He was fairly sure that she dove away at the last minute, unscathed, as she hit the pavement with a grunt a few meters away.

With one brisk motion, Elwood sent seven cards off the top of his deck into the neck of the beast. They impaled themselves like they were made of metal into the flesh.

"Some trick." Violet said to him.

"The perks of being a Hecate kid." Elwood replied, diving out from under the Chimera's glistening teeth.

A long cut appeared along the animal's side, the source of the wound invisible.

"Die, motherfucker!" Violet screeched, and lunged forward with her swords out. Will sent four more arrows into the flank as Violet dodged limbs, inflicting bloody wounds in as many places as possible.

She finally saw an opening, and slipped up under the belly of the beast, sending one sword straight upwards. Will could see the tip of her sword appear between the second and third lumbar of the Chimera. It lilted sideways, then exploded in a flurry of gold, coating Violet in dust.

"Agh." She said, getting to her feet and pulling her bracelet back on. "It's somebody else's turn to drive."

Annabeth came back into the visible spectrum, and Will quickly scanned the group for major injuries. Violet was dusty, Elwood and Annabeth mostly untouched. Jane was leaning against the van, though, and he zeroed in on her as she touched her side. Her coat was black, and it was mostly dark outside, but he could still see the red liquid marring the tips of her fingers as she brought them back up from her abdomen.

A second later, Jane slipped to the ground.

Elwood got to her side first, pulling back her coat. Will appeared a second later. Her left side was already soaked with blood from three deep claw marks slashed side ways across. He pushed the coat fully off her left arm, his mind kicking into instinct.

Jane's eyelids were flickering, her breath coming in short gasps. He had to assume at least one lung was damaged, as well as any organs in the vicinity of the cuts. And she was going into shock, barely coherent as she was.

"What are you gonna do?" Elwood asked, panic already in his voice.

Will didn't reply, though he'd made his decision.

Annabeth climbed behind the wheel as Will, Elwood, and Violet lifted Jane into the nearest row of seats, slamming the sliding door just as they peeled out of the parking lot. Jane let out a weak cry as they laid her down, and Elwood used his coat to put pressure on the wound.

"Violet," He called. "My med kit's in the outermost pocket of my backpack."

She threw herself across the van to reach into his pack, producing the red bag a second later.

"It's that bad?" She asked, as he removed the hot glue gun full of silver paste, as well as gauze, and a cleaning solution.

He nodded.

During the battle for Olympus the summer before, Will had learned that his body had limitations when it came to healings. Though he was powerful, magic of that nature was foreign in human bodies. Too many healings in too short a time period or too serious wounds could put him in a coma, or even kill him. And so he'd limited himself to only when it was absolutely necessary.

In this scenario, though, he had no other options. The wounds were too serious for his med kit, and they had no idea where to find a hospital in this unfamiliar state.

Elwood removed his jacket, and Jane whimpered as Will began to clean out the afflicted areas, cleaning away the blood as best he could. He then drew thin lines of the silver paste over the cuts, and began to hum. They sealed slowly, and he felt his limbs getting heavy, and sweat beading on his brow. When he opened his eyes, the bleeding had stopped, and Jane was sleeping.

She had lost a lot of blood, and she wouldn't be one hundred percent for a while, but she wasn't dead.

Elwood leaned back against the seat. He looked at the mess of blood on his shirt and coat, and decided to throw both over the seat and into the trunk. He dug around in his backpack to find a fresh shirt.

Jane's entire left side was coated in darkness, even to the extent of climbing up her neck, and into her dirty blonde braid.

Will's hands were bloodied too, and his face a shade of gray that he'd grown used to after any kind of magic. A headache was brewing above his eyes, but he wrapped Jane's wounds placed his coat over her before he curled up in one of the seats.

Violet craved the cup of coffee she'd bought in Wyoming, now in a puddle by the remains of a gas pump.

"Nobody's dead?" Annabeth called from the front.

"Still mostly intact." Violet replied, climbing up into the shotgun position and pulling the atlas from the floor. She directed Annabeth back to the interstate, and they drove on.


	7. Insanity Becomes Them

The first night, they'd thrown money at the front desk and crashed in one of the rooms without a second thought. They'd booked two motel rooms, but they'd only managed to get one open and then ended up piling onto the two twin beds together.

The don't wake for twelve hours.

Annabeth's eyes flickered open to sunlight washing in through the front window. She glanced at her cellphone, leaping out of bed as she read the date.

"Shit!" She cried, throwing open the curtains. The others began to rouse at her exclamation.

The motel room was pretty dingy, the comforters scratchy and the walls textured. The door opened out on to a balcony that also served as a walkway between rooms on the second floor. The building traced a half circle around a pool, situated in the center of the complex, that went to six and a half feet.

Beyond the motel was sand, and then more sand. A desert. Annabeth recalled they'd stopped in Salt Lake City, Utah, utterly exhausted.

"What the hell?" Violet muttered, slowly coming to a sitting position and rubbing at her crusty eyes. Her red hair, though pulled back, still stuck up at odd angles.

"We've lost half a day!" Annabeth said. "We need to get moving."

"Annabeth, relax." Will said, untangling himself from Violet. "You need to sleep." He then leaned over to check Jane's pulse and pupils.

"Where's Elwood?" Jane muttered, coming to.

"Don't worry about that right now." Will replied, though he shot a questioning look at Violet. He turned back to Jane. "Do you remember what happened?"

"The Chimera got me. Seriously, guys, where's Elwood?"

"Percy could be hurt! He could be dying as we speak. We don't have time to sit on our asses!" Annabeth was in full freak out mode, practically shrieking.

"You lost a lot of blood." Will told Jane. "I patched the wounds, but you're gonna half to take it easy for a couple of days, and it's probably gonna hurt when the ibuprofen I gave you wears off."

"Annabeth!" Violet grabbed the taller girl's shoulders. "Fucking calm down! You'll be no use to Percy in this state. Sleep, dammit!"

Annabeth succumbed, sitting down heavily on the bed. She'd held it together so long up to this point, keeping cool and dispassionate, and now her facade was blown. She willed him to be there, to tell her that everything would be okay, because he's the only person she'd ever believe. She blinked away tears and stared at the stained carpet.

Violet was not the comforting type, and so walked off back over to Jane and Will awkwardly.

Jane was now fully awake, and trying to push herself into a sitting position. She winced painfully, and settled back down against the pillows.

"We'll find Elwood." Will said reassuringly. "You just rest."

He nodded to Violet, and they grab their shoes and coats.

They open the door just in time to see Elwood Saturn leap over the balcony railing and plummet toward the ground.

m m m

He was grinning when his head poked up from that cerulean pool waters.

For whatever reason, the motel hadn't netted the pool for the winter, assuming nobody would be stupid enough to try to swim in thirty degree weather.

Obviously they hadn't met Elwood.

He was shivering violently as he sprinted back up the stairs to the second story, in nothing but jeans and his camp necklace. He looked undeterred, though, and was eyeing the twelve foot drop into the pool again.

Will and Violet just stared. Violet considered herself a risk taker, but even she thought his stunt was insane.

Jane had dragged herself to the threshold, and was now leaning against the door frame and breathing heavily. "What the hell was that?" She half screeched.

"Awesome." Elwood replied.

"You're an even bigger ballbag than I thought."

"Thanks, man." He grinned at her. "You can't tell me you guys didn't think about it."

"Dude, I can honestly say I didn't." Will said.

"But now I kinda am." Violet said, and unfortunately she wasn't kidding. She turned to Will. "Do it with me?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, hesitating, then began to strip off his coat. "I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?"

She smiled. "Probably. But you should be used to that by now."

He grabbed her hand as they climbed up on the wrought iron railing.

"You should hit the water at an angle, if possible." Elwood advised. "It decreases your chances of hitting the bottom."

"Did you hit the bottom?" Will asked.

"A little bit. That's why you gotta curve."

"You guys are fucking morons." Jane said. Annabeth had joined her at the threshold to watch, having collected herself again.

"Let's do it." Violet said, an elated grin spreading across her lips.

Will tried to calm his rapidly beating heart, and then they were leaping forward, out into open space, Violet's hand in his the only anchoring force he knew in that instant.

Soon they were no longer moving outwards, and began to fall.

The freezing water hit him like a brick wall, knocking the breath from him, making his limbs freeze up. Violet's hand was ripped from his, and he opened his eyes in the icy water to find her. He saw a cascade of bubbles to his right, and a flash of red hair.

She kicked toward him, and they come up to the surface wrapped up in each other.

The air was worse then the water, immediately stinging his cold skin. Elwood whooped as they climbed the ladder and hurried back up the stairs.

In front of the room, Elwood was leaning against the wall next to Jane, watching her with amusement.

"I bet I could have gotten you to jump." He said. "If you weren't so banged up."

"Shut up."

"I would just do this." He grabbed her around the waist, and easily held her against his chest. "And then jump."

"Ow." She said, blushing at his proximity, while simultaneously looking irritated. He gently put her back on the ground.

She muttered something about immaturity and limped back to her bed.

Annabeth stared stoically at the water for a moment before following Elwood back inside. Will couldn't help but think that she would've done it, if Percy had been there, if her other half was there to jump with her. He scrambled after Violet, back into the warmth.

"That was seriously awesome, man." Violet said, curling up with Will on the couch and piling towels and blankets on them both.

"And stupid." Jane said, as a soaking wet Elwood laid down next to her on the bed.

"You're not wrong." Will grinned. "Don't tell anyone I did that."

"Worried you'll tarnish your image as the sane one in the relationship?" Violet smiled.

The conversation progressed with light teasing and laughter, even from the more glum members of the group.

And for a while, they could pretend like they were unburdened. Relaxing for half a second, almost like they were normal teenagers.


	8. Normal is Overrated

**Author's Note: If you're reading this, please review!**

They spent another night in Salt Lake City, letting Jane get stronger.

Will and Violet wandered toward the van as Annabeth checked them out. It was a dry cold, a wind whipping up over the desert and blowing their coats back. They leaned against the sliding door.

"I've never been to California." Violet said, out of the blue.

"I have." Will replied. "My mom and I went once for a wedding. It was kind of a big deal because we saved up for like a year to pay for the plane tickets."

"Was it fun?"

"No." He smiled. "I was like eleven, and had to wear a suit. My mom liked it though, which was nice, in retrospect."

"Man, where are those guys?" Violet asked, glancing toward the motel lobby.

Will's brow furrowed. "Let's go find 'em."

Inside, Annabeth and Jane were sitting on one of the red couches in the waiting area, wearing identical look of stoicism. A family was checking in at the front desk, and a couple of college guys were waiting in line behind them.

Will and Violet watched as the two guys meandered nonchalantly over to Jane and Annabeth.

"Hi." One of them said.

"What's up?" The other said. "I'm Ryan."

Neither Jane or Annabeth said a word. Ryan and the other guy were undeterred by being ignored.

"We should hang out some time." Ryan continued. "If you're staying here for a while."

He smiled, in a kind of faux innocence, like all he had in mind was hanging out.

Violet wasn't sure if they were monsters in disguise, or just idiots.

"So, are you sisters?" The nameless one asked.

"No," Annabeth said, as though the energy needed to say the one word was more than she could spare. "But she is."

Ryan and his friend looked over at Violet, who gave them a look that Will had once lovingly dubbed the "death stare." It was something of a smile, that didn't quite reach her eyes, saying something along the lines of _I'm going to enjoy hurting you._

Their eyes moved to Will, who raised a menacing eyebrow. He was sure that Annabeth and Jane could handle themselves, but the time was right for his Violet's appearance.

Ryan and the one without a name took a step back.

"Well, we'll see you around." Ryan said, eyeing the emergency exit, while at the same time trying to look casual.

"I doubt it." Annabeth replied, and she almost smiled.

The college guys disappeared without a look back.

Elwood emerged from the direction of the bathroom. "Did I miss something interesting?"

"I love being abnormal." Violet grinned at Will. "Sometimes, at least."

The other patrons gave them a wide berth as they headed back outside to the van.

m m m

Will took the next shift driving, heading out of Utah and into Nevada.

Violet took shotgun as navigator, while Jane threw back generic painkillers and slept in the last row of seats. It was miracle that Jane was recovering so quickly from her wounds, but being a son of Apollo, he'd grown used to miracles. And besides, he doubted a Chimera would be enough to kill Jane Rumsey. Elwood put his jacket over her and put in his earbuds.

Annabeth stared out the window for most of the ride, as though Percy was hidden somewhere in the desert landscape.

Violet passed out a few hours into Nevada, but she left the map open so Will continued on, letting her sleep.

He stopped in Reno, eight hours later.

It was warmer, so he shed his jacket before stepping out to get gas.

Violet was roused in the seat next to him. She looked around. "Where are we?"

"Reno, Nevada." He replied. "You fell asleep."

She scowled, looking up at the darkened sky. Jane and Elwood stepped from the van, and he helped her limp toward the store. When they returned, they found Will and Violet locked in an impromptu make-out session.

"What the hell?" Jane said to the two as they broke apart.

They just shrugged.

"My brother's weird." Jane remarked to Elwood. He didn't disagree, and Will and Violet wrapped their arms around each other again as the gas tank filled.

"We're three hours out from San Francisco." Will said, rubbing at the dark spots under his eyes.

"I'll drive." Violet said, which was as close as she got to apologizing for falling asleep as navigator.

Will reclined the passenger seat, wadding up his coat to use as a pillow.

Violet shifted into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. She couldn't help but wonder if this was what quests were always like—really, not all that exciting. They had yet to come across and astounding realizations, or any uncommon monsters. In fact, the last few days had been mostly just driving and sleeping. Generally, she didn't mind this. But she'd built an image up in her head from the stories of other quests—more than often told by Percy and Annabeth. She'd expected them to be jumping off arches, fighting cyclops, meeting Gods, and just barely scraping out of bad situations by now.

She drove on through the Nevada desert, finally crossing into California. A few hours later, the Golden Gate was rising up on the horizon, the lights up the city reflecting off the black water of the Bay.

She found an empty parking lot near the bridge, and woke up the others. They took the footpath up along the roadway to the center of the bridge. The sun was just beginning to come up when they reached their destination, early morning joggers running past, the first commuters whooshing by in cars. They were mostly alone, though, five rumpled, half-god teenagers on a sort of quest to find someone who may or may not be able to be found.

They sat cross legged in an out of the way part of the sidewalk, and let the morning light wash over them in silence. Not sure if they should feel bliss, longing, or melancholia.


	9. The Redwoods

They weren't willing to spend the money on another motel room, seeing as this was kind of the beginning to quest, despite it taking several days just to reach their destination. So they found a camping ground near the redwoods, and pulled the sleeping bags from the trunk of the van.

"We should go check out the woods." Will offered.

"Does it cost money?" Violet asked.

"Yeah, like five bucks." Annabeth replied. "My dad lives here. We used to go to Muir when I was little."

"Are you gonna visit him?" Elwood asked.

She frowned. "I don't think this is a good time for social visits."

There was no more talk of visiting the elder Chase. Will wondered idly if all Athena kids had daddy issues.

"No, but seriously, we should go see the redwoods. I mean, we're practically right there." Violet pressed. They didn't have a tent, but they were rolling out sleeping bags in a shady grove of trees. It was much warmer, so they were only wearing light jackets in the midday sun. A few other people were using the same campground, but they were absorbed in their own trips and paying no mind to the group of teenagers.

"Do we have time for that?" Jane asked, sitting on the black fabric of her bedding.

"We're in San Francisco, and our only lead _might _be Mount Tam. For all we know there's some crazy monster base of operations in the redwoods." Violet reasoned. "Also, it's pretty there and I've never been to California."

Realizing Violet was adamant to see her big trees, Will seconded her notion, and they managed to get Annabeth to agree. They took everything of value with them, leaving the sleeping bags behind a tree, and took the shuttle over to the entrance to Muir Woods.

Violet had started grinning the moment they'd stepped on the bus, and the scenery had begun to rush by. Violet did have an eye for beautiful things. Will smiled at her sudden elation, as he always did when she grinned without any kind of malice or threat to poison it. When she smiled, her hard gray eyes softened, her face looking more inviting then it's usual vaguely intimidating arsenal of expressions.

They got off at the beginning of the woods, where a wooden pathway lead into the giant trees. The five of them gathered together before following the other tourists down the pathway.

"This is gonna be awesome." Violet said with absolute certainty.

It was getting on toward late afternoon, the golden sun filtering through the green leaves of the trees. Will glanced at the license plate of the shuttle bus as it sped off down the road. It looked kind of vintage, with _California_ written across the top, over a simple outline of a rising sun over the water. Below the actual plate numbers was, simply written, _the golden state._

Will looked up at the cloudless sky, at the rolling green hills, the spectacular trees and the glistening water, and decided the nickname was appropriate.

Violet took the lead down the footpath, her head permanently tilted skyward. The trees were thicker than a car, and taller than any natural structure he'd ever seen. Eventually, she fell back to his side, letting Jane and Elwood go forward, and Annabeth brought up the rear.

Will started humming Johnny Cash. He liked almost all music, but he had his favorites. He ran his hand through his hair to get it out of his face, and enjoyed the fact that for once his fingers weren't getting frost bitten. They stopped at a bend in the path, where a massive tree intruded on the walkway. It was hollow, too, leaving a darkened, cavernous hole inside it. Violet immediately stuck her head in it.

She pulled her head out again just in time for a gang of middle aged men to pass, taking up the entire walkway. Without the warning of seeing the large group coming, she was elbowed to the side roughly.

Will saw her take the next step in slow motion, reaching upwards for the man's head, no doubt with the intention of trying to snap his neck. Her temper flared, she didn't seem to notice or care he had a foot and a half in height on her.

Will leaped forward and grabbed her from behind, pulling her arms back to her own chest and holding onto her tightly.

"Violet." He said, through gritted teeth. "Don't."

"Don't fucking tell me what to do." She replied, but ceased her struggling against his grip. He didn't let go, though, he'd fallen for that before.

"What were you gonna do to that guy, Violet? He's a mortal. Maybe he's an asshole, maybe he's a perfectly good human being who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You can't solve your problems like this."

She glared at him. "You don't know...what it's like."

He raised an eyebrow. "To live like we do? Suspecting everything? Oh, I might have some idea. You need to get this under control."

She didn't say another word about her violent tendencies. The others had turned their eyes from the forest to the couple, their expressions ranging from awkwardness to a quiet approval of the discussion. Jane had taken a seat on one of the benches, resting her side wound, Elwood lounging next to her. Annabeth leaned against the railing, watching them with her eyes narrowed. She knew arguing was a good thing in a relationship...to a point. But as far as she knew Will and Violet weren't at each other's throats as they were now very often, or maybe they were just quieter than she and Percy had been when they fought.

"Jane, do you need to go back?" Will asked, breaking the tension.

"Couldn't hurt." She replied, her voice tight as she prodded at her side.

Annabeth nodded, and they turned back toward the way they'd come. They were only a few steps forward when Violet called out.

"I think I saw something move in the tree." She said, looking back at the near-pitch black crevasse.

"Probably just a raccoon." Annabeth said.

"Probably." Violet continued to stare, though, and a second later she was ducking to the ground, cowering beneath a hellhound as it leaped over her head. It landed with a crash on the other side of the walkway, snarling at the demigods with it's red eyes.

Will looked around. All mortals seemed to have disappeared in a hurry. The huge black dog lunged again, Elwood pulling Jane out of the way before it exploded into the bench she'd just been sitting on. He pulled the deck of cards from his back pocket, and Annabeth went invisible.

The beast turned to Will, and began to charge as he pulled the bow from his back. He was cornered in the curve of the path, and he had no time to load an arrow and take aim. The monster was nearly on top of him already. Behind him was the railing, and behind that, a redwood four feet in diameter.

He didn't have time to think _I'm trapped_ before Violet slammed into him, knocking him three feet to the left and just out of the reach of the hound's front paws. It caught her, though, before she could land on top of him, it's claws snagging her backpack. It reared up on it's hind legs, Violet dragged like a rag doll as it's front paw reached twenty feet above their heads. Elwood sent twelve cards and Will four arrows into it's stomach before it lurched sideways.

Violet could sense it would fall forward any second, and in an attempt not to get caught beneath the hound's massive form, she wormed the best she could out of the straps of her pack, nearly free, when the beast began to topple. It's momentum separated her from it's front claws, sending her over the railing, past a flash of red bark and into the sandy, leaf strewn dirt head first.

The beast lay in a defeated heap, blocking the path with a mound of barely breathing black fur. Annabeth appeared, and finished it with a quick slit across the throat from her knife.

Will hurried to the railing, to see Violet pulling herself to her feet slowly.

"I'm okay." She said, and smiled slightly in surprise. "Cool."


	10. Body Heat

As it turned out, Violet was not as okay as she claimed.

She strolled, grinning, back over to the railing. It was when Will and Annabeth attempted to pull her back on to the walkway that she felt the pain.

"Ouch." She exclaimed. "Ow ow ow."

"Lemme see." Will saw her cradle her left arm to her chest, and he gently pulled it away. He felt up from her forearm to her bicep, but it was when he prodded her shoulder joint that she winced again.

"It's dislocated." He declared. "I'll set it when we get back."

"Ok." Violet went back to keeping her arm folded across her stomach, careful not to jostle it on the way back through the woods.

Annabeth watched the two take the lead, and could understand how life threatening situations can close rifts between people. Usually. Holding grudges was a dangerous way to live when you were about to die at almost any moment of the day.

Violet stared out the window on the way back, as she had on the way there. Her wonder had not been lost, apparently.

"I don't know about you guys." She said cheerily, as they dismounted at the stop by their campsite. "But I had fun."

Will laughed, swinging an arm around her shoulders and kissing her hair. "I'm not surprised you'd say something like that."

The sun was setting as they pulled their sleeping bags out from the hiding place. The sky had turned orange, and the temperature was beginning to drop. Not New York drop, but enough to put on their coats again. The sky was still cloudless, the landscape still stunning. Will settled in to fix Violet's arm, bracing against a nearby tree.

"On three." He said, getting ready to shove her arm back into the socket.

She nodded, her face made of stone.

"One." He said, and pushed hard until he heard the satisfying pop and crack of the bone finding it's natural spot again.

Violet screamed. A crowd of guys gathered around a campfire a few feet to their right looked over at them.

"What the fuck was that?" Violet half yelled at him.

"You needed to be relaxed. Sorry." He smiled, employing puppy dog eyes. She softened, rubbing her shoulder.

"It'll be sore for a couple of days." He advised.

"Yeah, I know the drill." She leaned against him, and they laid back on the bedding to watch the sky darken.

To their left, Annabeth was reading a thick looking book in Greek. Beyond her, Elwood seemed to be bothering Jane with his latest antics. Violet was now thoroughly convinced that Elwood did some kind of magic with his purple hair, the way it had managed to stick up without fail for the entirety of the trip.

"Ya know," Elwood kneeled down next to Jane, a sly smile on his features. "It might get cold tonight."

"Oh yeah?" Jane looked faintly amused, but more just like she wanted him to shove off.

"And the best way to keep warm is body heat." He mimed snuggling an imaginary person in his arms.

The humor drained from Jane's face. "Fuck off."

He took a hint and rolled back on to his own sleeping back, knowing he'd stepped too far. Violet suppressed a snort of laughter as she watched Jane ignore him. Will just looked concerned.

The sun set quickly, and they set up for the night. They hung their backpacks from a tree branch several yards away, should the food, ambrosia, or nectar attract bears. It was unlikely, in such a populated campsite, but Annabeth was not one to ignore common sense.

Annabeth crawled into her bag, wearing socks and a coat. She turned on her flashlight and continued to read. Jane and Elwood got into their beds, too, studiously ignoring each other. Violet and Will slipped into one bag, relying on one another to keep themselves warm instead of wearing coats.

"I wish I could have taken a shower in the last couple of days." Violet muttered, already with her eyelids flickering.

"I wish you could have, too." Will grinned cheekily at her.

"Shut up." She laughed and tried for a punch, but they were too tightly pressed together. "You smell like shit, too."

"And yet you still agreed to share a bed with me."

"Well you have amazingly sexy hair, which helps."

"I try."

Annabeth turned off her light and zipped up her bag so that only her nose peeked out through the heavy fabric. Jane turned in her sleep, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground.

"You know that song 'Walk the Line' by Johnny Cash?" Violet asked.

Will snorted. "Of course I fucking know it."

"Okay, okay. I just like it."

"It's a good song."

"I like the lyrics. I can relate, assuming I'm interpreting them correctly. Honestly, with song lyrics, I don't have the slightest idea what's going on half the time."

Will recalled the words in his head.

_I find it very, very easy to be true_

_I find myself alone when each day is through_

_Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you_

_Because you're mine, I walk the line_

He could understand why they might resonate with Violet.

_I keep a close watch on this heart of mine_

_I keep my eyes wide open all the time_

He smiled. Violet seemed to be actually trying to tell him she cared about him. Interesting.

_Because you're mine, I walk the line._

"Hey, Violet." He touched her shoulder, but she had passed out already.

"Shut up, you guys." He heard Jane yell over Annabeth. "Trying to sleep."

"Sorry." Will replied and settled in with his arms around Violet. He leaned in close, the only sounds a breeze blowing through the trees and campfire crackling nearby.

"I love you." He whispered. Her breathing remained steady, she was out cold.

He rolled onto his back. Why he felt the need to say that, he had no idea. Maybe he was just a nice guy, like people said, always looking out for others. But this seemed like more of a selfish situation, seeing as he was the only one that heard his own words. Had he ever told Violet that, in a way that was more than a quip? Had she ever said that to him? It was something they should say more often, he decided, seeing as a demigod's life was far too short to beat around the bush.

This made him think about the Battle of the Labyrinth, when he and Violet had first gotten together. Their friends and siblings had rolled their eyes and muttered about how _it's about time_, because they'd spent years as best friends. They may have been an odd couple, but their feelings were obvious to everyone but themselves.

He remembered the day clearly. He had just watched Lee Fletcher take a spear through the throat, and still managed to keep his limbs moving, to keep the archers firing, his blood pumping. After the battle, he was vacant, empty. Even as a demigod, he'd never seen such violence, fast and cruel and unforgiving. He could barely comprehend it; Lee had just been there, standing right next to him, and then he was gone. Where the hell did he go?

He pulled the spear from his brother's neck, in some fool attempt to save his life. He'd pressed his shirt against the wound, but the jugular vein had been penetrated, and blood was everywhere. Lee was dead long before Will stopped trying to revive him, nearly getting killed by a minotaur in the process. He looked at the battlefield, covered in blood and sweat, tears boiling in the back of his eyes. He wasn't seriously injured, almost everyone else was getting patched up. He should have been helping—not all Apollo kids had the power of healing he did.

Inadvertently, he'd found himself looking for Violet's red hair among the corpses. It seemed unlikely that she would have fallen, at that point he'd never seen her lose a fight. Something snapped, and he sprinted back toward the cabins, up the steps to Athena and slamming open the door.

She was there, peeling off armor, looking as dirty as him. She was tired looking, and even frail, if that was even possible. Older, worn. He didn't take in anything else except her grey eyes flashing to him as he rushed in. He didn't hesitate, just took three and half steps forward and slammed his lips into hers. Adrenaline, grief, passion, fear, all pressed into one gesture. It was exhilarating.

He had realized all too suddenly that she could've died in that battle, and he'd never have told her what he'd been thinking for longer than he cared to admit. Demigods did not live the kind of life that allowed for waiting for good things to happen. You needed to grab it yourself.

The stars littered the San Francisco sky when he finally quieted his thoughts and let his eyes close.


	11. Perhaps Not Her Best Idea

They woke early the next morning, packing up quickly and quietly.

They were planning on heading into the city for the morning, first to find food, and then to look for any weird activity. Assuming all went well, in the afternoon, they'd drive up Mount Tam.

Knowing the city best, Annabeth drove them to a cafe she remembered to be open for breakfast. They grabbed coffee and small pastries before commandeering an outdoor table. Jane and Elwood sat on opposite sides of the table, still avoiding each other's gazes. No one spoke, simply absorbing the entire San Francisco scene, analyzing each person to pass them by. A girl about Will's age smiled at him. He didn't look, but he was fairly sure Violet glared at her. He placed an arm around the back of her chair in some sort of attempt to console her.

It was another brilliantly sunny day in California, with a soft breeze blowing, the sky cloudless. Will was discovering that he quite liked this state.

"So, where should we start?" Elwood looked to Annabeth.

"I say we just hit the main streets, right? And then go for the back alleyways." Violet put in.

Annabeth nodded. "I don't have a better idea. Maybe we'll get lucky."

They grabbed their backpacks and headed off at a steady pace up the sidewalk. Will wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, as he was passed by business men and women and college students and beach blondes and surfer dudes. San Francisco was a big city, and everyone he passed looked relatively normal. The only comforting thing was that monsters would automatically be attracted to them, so in theory, if there was big trouble, it would come to them. This was less comforting once Will thought it through.

They walked for several hours before Jane needed to rest again. They found a small furniture store off one of the main streets where they could 'try out' the couches for sale.

No one said much, the heavy weight of failure on their shoulders. Upon arriving in California mostly alive, they'd thought they'd have a chance, at least, of picking up a lead. But now the impossibility of their quest was slapping them in the face, making them realize that they could search every nook and cranny in the city, and Percy could still be on the other side of the world, or just in some tiny town three miles north, and they'd never know.

"We're not going to find him like this." Violet said, sitting down next to Will on a striped couch. Annabeth and Jane grabbed the seats across from them, while Elwood paced slightly nearby. "I say we go to Mount Tam and then head back to camp if we don't find anything."

Annabeth opened her mouth to object, but Violet interrupted her.

"What'd you think was the logical next step from here? We have exactly jackshit to go on. Are we just gonna keep searching through random towns?"

Annabeth's voice was tight, her eyes heard when she spoke again. "We can't give up."

Will stepped in, metaphorically. "Who knows, maybe the others, you know Jason and them, have found something on their journey." He offered sympathetically.

"Maybe." Annabeth said softly. "But...I just..." An incoherent Annabeth was not a happy Annabeth.

"We'll still check out Mount Tam, okay?" Will smiled at her. "Who knows, man, maybe we'll find something."

Annabeth nodded, biting her lip. He'd convinced her.

Violet patted his knee in approval. She never failed to be impressed when he managed to calm someone like that, seeing as it had never been her strong suit.

"I'm sorry, did you say you were looking for someone?" The woman at the check out counter appeared to be in her thirties, with light skin and dyed red hair. She wore a strapless dress and high heeled boots. She must have picked up part of their conversation, not surprising, seeing as the store was almost completely empty other than the teenagers.

Violet raised a skeptical eyebrow at her butting in, but Will smiled at the woman as charmingly as possible, intrigued.

"Yeah," He said. "A guy, about my height with black hair and green eyes. Have you seen him, by any chance?"

Annabeth, Jane, and Elwood all turned to look at her. Her brow furrowed, thinking.

"I don't think I've seen him." She admitted after a moment. "You sure he's in the city?"

"We're not sure." Elwood said. "We just think so."

Annabeth's shoulders dropped, though she was not surprised Percy had not stepped into a furniture store while being kidnapped.

"Well," The woman continued. "I see a lot of people your age by this highway tunnel, out in the suburbs. I don't know why, but they come and go there a lot."

Jane looked at her. "Yeah? Can you tell us where it is?"

She nodded, and Will and Violet got to their feet as she scribbled down directions on the back of an old receipt, then handed it over to Will.

"Thanks." He said with a smile.

"No problem. Hope you find your friend." She looked apologetic. "I guess you should probably call the police or something, if you don't find him."

"I'm not sure they'd be hugely interested in this." Violet replied vaguely.

The woman gave them odd look, but didn't ask questions.

They got up to leave, and she waved. Violet wondered if the woman was just a nice person, a monster waiting to ambush them, or someone who simply thought that they weren't quite right in the head, depending on how much of the conversation she'd heard. It did seem a little odd, Violet thought, from an outsider's point of view. Five teenagers, clearly distraught over their missing friend, but not calling the police or getting any real help. They just had to hope that the woman wouldn't rat them out, as they were technically minors. They had enough to deal with already.

Piling back into the van, Will put the receipt on the dashboard, carefully translating the woman's messy handwriting before each turn. Annabeth seemed to not be able to sit still, smacking the broad side of her knife against her leg rhythmically. She was no doubt torn between excitement at the possibility of a breakthrough and anxiety at the possibility for it all too have been an elaborate set up.

Will wasn't sure it was a trap. In his experience, monsters weren't all that patient, their tendencies more along the lines of "see a demigod, kill a demigod", not "let's set up an clever plot to give the demigods false hope and then kill them."

They drove past the spot she had marked with an _x_ on the receipt, to get a look at it before they pulled over. There was a cliff, with two tunnels carved into it for incoming and oncoming traffic. On one side, there was a holey chain link fence, guarding a neighborhood of paved roads and eucalyptus trees. On the other, their seemed to be an outcropping, and upon closer inspection during the second pass, they saw a door, with two people standing on either side of it.

They parked on the other side of the tunnels, out of sight of the door, and then skulked along the walkway back to the door. They stayed in the shadow of the tunnel, weapons drawn, to get a good look, which was harder than they expected.

It was just a little hazy around the edges, enough to convince them it was protected by the mist. They could see it well enough, though, or enough to make out two figures in full armor and weaponry, standing stalk straight on each side of a small door in the rocky cliff.

"What the hell is it?" Violet asked. "Are those _demigods_?"

"That's not Greek armor." Annabeth said, squinting her eyes at the two people.

"What do you mean that's not Greek armor?" Jane looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"I mean, it's not." Annabeth retorted. "It looks...almost..._Roman._"

Will and Violet exchanged a look. None of this was making any sense whatsoever.

They stared at the armor-clad soldiers a while longer, trying to come to some not crazy conclusion. They weren't having much success.

"Well, shouldn't we go talk to them?" Will said. "Maybe they'll tell us what's going on. And they probably know something about Percy—it seems like too much of a coincidence that we'd find this looking for him."

"Maybe they'll tell us, or maybe they're monsters waiting to kill us." Violet put in.

"They don't look like monsters." Will replied.

"We can't see shit from here. Who fucking knows what they are." She said. "I think it's safer if we go up their ready to fight, not talk."

"I think we should wait here for a while, maybe overnight." Annabeth reasoned. "See what they do, if anything, before we go charging up there."

"That makes sense to me." Jane agreed, and Will nodded.

"What? Hell, no." Violet appealed to Annabeth. "What if they have Percy somewhere up there? What if he's being tortured, on the verge of death? Gods, this has got to be a breakthrough! We can't afford to wait this out. Not for his sake, not for the sake of ourselves. As a demigod, I think it's safe to assume that almost everything we encounter is trying to kill us, one way or another. And I, for one, do not want to be caught off guard when we try to go 'talk' to people who are clearly armed and may or may not be monsters."

"And so we should just go up there with our guns blazing because we _think_ they might be hostile?" Will countered. "This is bad planning, even for you, Violet."

They glared at each other for a moment. It was not surprising, their differing points of view. Will generally saw the good in people; Violet knew how to fight, and therefore was more comfortable in situation where she had the upper hand. They eventually turned to Annabeth, who was the unofficial leader.

Judging by her expression, and much to Will's dismay, Violet seemed to have gotten to her with her comments about Percy's well being.

"I agree." She said to Violet. "We don't have time to waste. I'd like to think these people would help us, but I don't want to take the risk of going up there unprepared."

Will groaned. "All this is going to tell us is that any being about to be attacked by strangers is going to respond with violence. We won't learn anything by killing them."

"We won't kill them." Annabeth said. "We'll just disarm them, and then we'll talk."

"And if they kill us first?"

"It's five to two, Will. They don't have a chance, no matter who they are." Violet told him.

He still shook his head, scowling. The whole idea of assuming that a civil conversation couldn't be had without initial violence was eating at him. He knew Violet liked to be in control of any situation involving weapons, but this was unfamiliar turf, and they hadn't the slightest idea who they were making enemies of.

Jane and Elwood, as the most junior in the group, had been watching the three argue back and forth. They looked as though they might have their own opinions to voice, but Annabeth clearly had her mind made up.

"Okay, weapons at the ready." She declared. "Let's do this."

They crept out from the tunnel, braced for attack as they stepped off the tunnel sidewalk and onto the grass lining the highway. A fifty foot hill lead up to the soldiers, the ground littered with trash thrown from car windows. Will notched an arrow, despite his principles.

They had barely made it a few steps up the hill when the guard on the left moved. Both still until that moment, one turned swiftly on their heel, opened the door, and disappeared inside.

A second later, a platoon of armored bodies filed out of the door. The five teenagers didn't have time to move before two dozen soldiers were charging down the hill.


	12. Vague

**Author's Note: As you may have noticed, I don't leave a/n's very often, mostly out of laziness and the fact I don't have much to say other than begging for reviews. Anyways, hello, readers, if you truly exist! Prove to me that you're out there by reviewing, please! I will love and cherish every word, most likely, because reviews seriously brighten my day. Also, I won't be updating for the next week or so, because I'll be away from my computer. I met sneak in another chapter before the weekend's over, if I have time. But otherwise, enjoy this chapter! And...you guessed it, please review!**

The battle was not epic, unfortunately, it was hardly even a battle.

Will didn't even have time to swear before three soldiers smacked him to the ground, wrenching the bow from his hands. He didn't put up much of a fight after that, feeling a little woozy after from his head's connection with the ground. He could see them up close now, his attackers. They were definitely human, he could see parts of their features beneath their helmets. They duck taped his hands, and then blindfolded his eyes, leaving him on his stomach with his face in the dirt. He tried to readjust to a more comfortable position, and was rewarded with a sturdy kick to the solar plex.

From what he'd seen, the others had been taken down just as easily, overwhelmed. He could still hear Violet screeching insults and swearing bilingually, though, from somewhere to his right. He could hear rustling, the heavy thump of flesh connecting with flesh more than once, and then she went quiet. Despite the fact that her idiocy/pigheadedness had gotten them into this situation, he hoped to the gods she was just unconscious.

He heard the sounds of limbs moving again, and then he was yanked to his feet as his captors started uphill. They were speaking a mix of English and something else, not Greek, but similar. He thought it might have been Latin, but he'd only taken one semester of it in the ninth grade and failed it pretty badly, so he didn't trust that as the final judgement.

He had no sense of direction accept that they were going upwards. Occasionally, he'd hear a grunt that sounded like one of his friends, or the dragging of feet on dry grass. Seeing as no cars stopped at the strange sight, he assumed that most of the area was protected by mist. Not all of it though, because the woman from the furniture store had seen people coming and going in this area, assuming she hadn't been lying to get them kidnapped.

None of this gave him in any answer to what the hell was going on, or what would become of them. He couldn't help but think that maybe this was what happened to Percy, but why would he be poking around San Francisco without telling anybody, including his girlfriend? No, something else was happening here, though he'd bet money that there was some sort of connection.

And the stupid part was that he could feel for these people, whoever they were. Back at camp, their instincts would be the same. A heavily armed group of strangers creeping up toward camp, clearly with bad intent? They'd send people out to take them down in a second. Obviously, these people had as many secrets to keep as the demigods at Camp Half-Blood.

He continued to be oblivious of his surroundings as they walked him further and further forward, until the ground leveled out again and he was plopped down on the grass again. He sensed someone next to him, but hadn't the slightest idea of who it was.

The soldiers began to converse, a few feet in front of him, in low but still audible voices.

"Should we kill them?" One asked hopefully.

"What? No, don't be a dumb-ass. We don't even know what they are. We need to find Reyna, see what she wants to do." Another put in.

"I don't think, in light of our most recent developments, that this is a good time to ask her anything." Someone said cautiously.

"She's praetor, she can still make decisions without her boyfriend."

"We could ask Octavian."

"He'll kill them for sure. We should at least find out what they are, right? They don't look like monsters. And their weapons aren't mortal, either." He heard someone approach, and then the familiar sound of an arrow being pulled from the quiver slung across his back.

"That's not imperial gold." One of them noted.

"Yeah, but that tip sure as hell isn't regular metal. I mean, look at it. It practically fucking glows."

"If they're not mortals and they're not monsters, then what in Jupiter's name are they?"

"Maybe they're like us." Someone said quietly.

"And they just stumbled upon weapons like this by accident? And managed to survive this long on their own? Yeah, that's likely."

There was silence among the soldiers, as no one could seem to fathom a better idea. Will was lost, completely. Something really weird was going on here, and he felt like the answer was just in his reach, yet he couldn't quite put it together in his mind. He was grasping for a wisp of answer, and still it slipped through his fingers.

"Keep them tied up, and search their packs. Don't say anything until Reyna gets here." The voice, clearly the leader, had spoken several times during the discussion. Footsteps retreated into the distance. There was a pause, and then more footsteps approached them.

They had barely laid a hand on him before something happened that he couldn't explain. There came a blinding flash of light, which he registered even behind his dark blindfold, and then the world seemed to go completely black, and he was no longer sitting on the ground with his hands tied. He couldn't feel the rest of his body, his thoughts the only thing keeping him conscious. Eventually, though, he seemed to space out, losing his anchor to reality.

He was unconscious by the time he smacked hard into something made of wood.


	13. This Will Not Go Well

There first thing he noticed was the smell. It was salty, humid, but still cool. The second thing he noticed was the feel, a quiet, rhythmic, rocking. It disoriented him, even more so then his throbbing headache and the fact that what had just happened was slowly coming back to him, each event even more unbelievable than the last.

He really shouldn't be surprised anymore. Shit like this happened all the time, and he kept getting caught off guard by it.

He slowly opened his eyes, to a misty sky.

He realized he was slightly damp, even as a hard sun beat down on his face and shoulders, penetrating the gray color of the sky easily. It wasn't cold enough to put on a coat, though there was an unsteady breeze—it was almost tropical, really. Kind of like California, but stickier, and the sun seemed to be more powerful here.

He sat up carefully, taking in the scene.

Water surrounded him, dark blue and stretching in all directions with no land in sight. He himself was sitting in a wooden canoe, peeling blue paint covering the inside, and red trim along the curving edges. It was not very big, but at the moment it was holding five groggy, ADHD, and heavily armed demigods.

Will could see the collateral damage forming already.

His comrades were in a similar state of disorientation, squinting at their new landscape. A few looked bruised, but Violet looked positively awful. Her face was swollen and purple, cuts on all exposed skin. Clearly, the soldiers had had themselves a handful trying to subdue her.

Then he remembered her stupid fucking plan, and silently cursed her.

"Where the hell are we?" Jane asked, tossing her now mussed braid behind one shoulder. She and Elwood seemed to have forgotten their feud, exchanging slightly panicked looks.

"I don't know." Annabeth muttered. "If Percy was here...he's like a nautical GPS."

"What the fuck just happened?" Violet spat.

"We must have stumbled upon something important." Annabeth deduced. "Maybe Hera, or whoever responsible for Percy's disappearance, put some kind of magic in place should we get too close to the answer, something that would send us far away." She paused. "We could be anywhere."

"Why not just kill us?" Elwood asked. "If they go to all the trouble of jinxing our arrival, why not just get it over with?"

"Maybe they want us to find him, just not yet." Will put in. "They just had to distract us for a while."

"And who were those people anyway?" Violet asked. "None of this makes any fucking sense."

"I dunno." Annabeth said. "But when we make it back to land, we need to get back to camp. This just proves whatever we found is connected to Percy. Maybe the others will find something too, and then we can piece it all together..." She almost looked excited, despite their current circumstances. "And then we can find him."

"How do you recommend we get back to shore, exactly?"

"That could be a problem."

"No shit."

"Let's just take inventory." Annabeth decided. "Who still has their pack?"

Only Will, Elwood, and Jane hadn't had their backpacks ripped away from them by their captors. Inside, they had extra clothes, some half empty water bottles, and a decent supply of ambrosia and nectar. A few had small amounts of packaged food, but not much.

"Well, the water will last a couple days, as long as we're careful. And we have weapons, so we can fish." Will said hopefully. "Maybe we'll wash up on shore, or something."

Violet was glaring off to the watery horizon, her jaw tensed.

"Whoever did this was one creative fuck." She said, the swelling in her face making her even harder to read than usual. The bitter tone was evident in her voice, though. "A very clever way to get us killed, let us starve, or make us lose our minds."

Will snapped his head back toward her, his anger reignited.

"I fucking told you we shouldn't go up there ready for a fight!" He almost yelled. "Maybe, if we'd just gone up there peacefully, with no ill intention, they would've just talked to us. It was obvious they weren't monsters! They were people, Violet, just like us. Perfectly rational." He paused. "Okay, well maybe not like you, then."

"Did it even occur to you that they kind of initiated the violence on that? For all we know they could have spotted us the moment we drove by and had the ambush planned even if we were unarmed!" She screamed.

"You have no evidence of that! You can't tell me you would have just sat quietly and let yourself be disarmed if a bunch of grungy teenagers had come up to you! Of course they'd call for back up! What the hell did you expect?" He shouted back.

"Why the fuck didn't bring that up when we were discussing this in the tunnel?!" She retorted.

"Like you would have listened! You're so fucking stubborn that anything I said wouldn't have made a difference!"

"What the fuck do you want me to say, Will? Cause I can't change the past and I'm sorry you disagreed with the decision but either way would have ended with us here, apparently."

"Why can't you just apologize, be like a human being for once in your life?! You're not so special that you don't have to follow the rules, Violet, that you don't have to at least try to be a good person."

"Why should apologize for something that's not my fucking fault?!"

"Like you didn't have hand in it!"

"_Shut up!"_ Jane's voice rose to a level that Will didn't know she was capable of.Her voice returned to a normal range for the next sentence. "If you two haven't noticed, this is a _very_ small boat, and no one wants to spend what might be their last few days listening to you two scream at each other. So, for the love of the Gods, _shut the fuck up_. You can argue when we're all dead."

Will and Violet went silent, avoiding the other's eyes.

"It doesn't matter anyway." Annabeth said. "We would've ended up her anyway, even if we hadn't tried to attack. We got too close to the answer. I'd also like to make it known, _Will_, that it was my decision to disarm the guards. Also, _Violet_, I think praying on the fact that Percy might be in danger to get your point across nearly got us killed, and that maybe violence should not always be your first resort."

Neither said a word, or even gave any indication they'd heard Annabeth's words.

"Well, then." Elwood said, pulling the deck of cards from his back pocket. "Crazy Eights, anyone?"


	14. Probably Dead

**Author's Note: Wow, ask and you shall receive! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and please keep it up! Love you guys! Also, I have a suggested song for this chapter. Beware, it has a lot of swearing in it: "Black Swan" by Thom Yorke. The chorus represents this chapter pretty well, I think, and I also just like the song. **

Several rounds of the card game later, the demigods had successfully taken their minds off that fact that their death was even more imminent then usual, and the established couple had decided that their relationship problems could wait until they were either dead, or in a less small environment.

The sun was setting over the water, turning the sky bright red. It had some kind of beauty to it, though Will had a hard time appreciating it after the day he'd had.

Once the sun was gone, the temperature dropped, and he pulled on his coat again. The humidity remained though, irritating him further. They had a few flashlights among them to break through the pitch black that had fallen quicker then he could imagine, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. He didn't care what time it was, or that one of them probably should stay up on guard, because he was so unbelievably exhausted it was all he could do to find the spot as far away from Violet as possible and try to close his eyes.

Incidentally, this was about four feet away from her.

She took the bow, he found the aft end. Annabeth, Elwood, and Jane curled up in the center, trying to keep warm.

He didn't bother saying good night before he let himself fall into a deep sleep.

m m m

Will awoke to sun scorching his cheek.

The others were stirring, stripping off their coats. There was still a cold breeze, but it did nothing for the sun beating down on them, reflecting off the water. He stripped down to his undershirt, exposing his lean form.

Violet was in short sleeves, wearing her camp shirt. With her coloring, pale because of her ginger hair, she was already burning. Of course, she was paying this no mind. He didn't say a word to her, and she followed suit.

Jane and Elwood were the last to wake, and Will allowed himself to forget about the problems in his own love life and smile at how they'd fallen asleep holding hands.

"What are you looking at?" Jane said, only half amused.

"Nothing." He replied innocently.

Jane had her usual scrap of paper clutched in her other hand, which she hurriedly shoved down her pants pocket under his gaze. He'd seen her with it less and less, it seemed, and had managed successfully forget about her strange behavior leading up the quest. Now he sighed under the weight of yet another dangerous possibility.

m m m

Violet did not like water.

She could swim well enough, but had never wanted to make the time commitment in the water to actually get strong. She was also, at the moment, slightly cold, but her skin was burning at a rate even she was amazed by. As if everything else in this situation wasn't completely fucked.

Once everyone was up, they weren't sure exactly what there was to be done. There was one paddle, tied to the left side of the boat, but they had no sense of direction, which was excusable seeing as they hadn't the slightest idea of what hemisphere they were in. They could try their hand at fishing, she supposed, but even here she just wanted to lay down and rest for while longer. Her previously dislocated shoulder still hurt, thanks to the soldiers. Also, one of her eyes was swollen almost completely shut, and she had an oozing forehead wound.

And, it was entirely likely she was going to die in the next three days of any number of things. Brilliant.

To top it all off, while Annabeth read and Jane and Elwood giggled with each other, she and her boyfriend were studiously ignoring each other.

Yes, things looked bleak, even by demigod standards.

She stared off at the horizon, seething. About Will, about the pathetic way they were going to die, about her whole fucking life. Being half god sucked eighty percent of the time. She could think of a few perks—community, family, faith, a parent who could literally give you anything for your birthday (if they remembered, lot of kids and all)—but the majority of demigods didn't get a chance to enjoy the perks because they spent a lot of time dying. Painfully. In improbable situations. Like this one, for example.

She looked at the others, how they seemed to be taking their likely and early deaths very well. Maybe they were at peace, come to terms with the fact that there was nothing they could do. Maybe they were in denial, pretending they were someplace else. Or maybe they were still hopeful for rescue, still praying to their parents for salvation.

Violet didn't pray. She was pretty sure they were gonna die.

m m m

Will was starting to think they might actually be okay.

They had water for two days. An hour ago, he'd watched Violet and Jane take a stab at fishing (literally), one with a sword and the other with arrows. The arrows didn't work, unfortunately, they just made the fish sink and required more time to aim. The bright side was that he'd seen Violet use her battle skills to lunge forward and run a good sized fish straight through with one sword, holding it up for all to gawk at. He'd watched her out of the corner of his eye without comment.

Elwood had a blue flame started up in the belly of the boat. Hecate kids seemed to have it all—Elwood has started it with a snap of his fingers, and it didn't seemed to spread or need fuel as long as he kept an eye on it. At the moment, he was dangling the fish by it's tail over the heat, occasionally turning it to keep it even.

But Will could see dark clouds gathering on the horizon, though it was barely midday. He looked at the rickety boat, and frowned. He silently prayed to his dad to let it blow over them.

He alerted the others to the their possible impending doom, just as the first raindrops start to fall. They battened down the hatches, pulling on remaining backpacks, coats, and weaponry. Will saw Elwood shove the half cooked fish down on zippered pocket.

They sat single file, holding on to the edges of the boat, no one saying a word. The wind began to blow harder, the raindrops bigger and closer together.

"We're gonna die." Jane said, and her face was somewhere between terror and humor.

Elwood said "No, we're not" at the same time Violet said "Probably."

He met Violet's eyes for the first time that day.

"You got something to say, Will?" She tilted her head, her eyes steel.

He didn't reply, thinking something along the lines of not stooping to her level.

Annabeth turned to her. "Not now."

Violet just bit her lip.

The first wave they saw coming from thirty feet away, and the boat just floated gracefully over it to the other side. _That wasn't so bad_, Will thought, but he didn't relinquish his white knuckle grip on the boat side. As though the flimsy canoe would save him.

He looked over at Violet, recognized carefully masked fear on her face. If this storm got bad, more than likely they'd end up in the water, and gods knew what she'd do then. He resisted the urge to go to her, hold onto her. Because an emotionally vulnerable Violet was so unusual, that it hurt him to not try and help. It was just his nature.

But he couldn't. The anger was still there. He didn't expect her to change, just make an effort. Say she was sorry, and mean it, for once.

He averted his eyes from her and back to the next wave, which gave no warning at all. It smacked into them, and they rose up over the top, listing heavily left.

After that, there was no warning whatsoever. The waves came, one right after the other, each bigger than the last. They were thrown from side to side relentlessly, the rain soaking them to the skin, and lightning flashing at an epilepsy inducing rate. Their ears constantly rang from the rolling thunder, and the sky was black. Several times, Will was sure the boat was gonna flip. He'd feel his hair lift upwards, as though gravity didn't apply to him, his legs rising from the seat, and he'd be sure that he'd be submerged any second. Then they'd be violently righted, the other four demigods looking as frazzled as he felt. And, of course, an even bigger wall of water would smash against them next, and the cycle would be repeated.

They were thrown like rag dolls, tossed forward and backward across the boat. They'd try desperately to hold on to something—anything they could find that offered some measure of security. Jane and Elwood had curled up in the bottom of the boat, holding onto each other for dear life. Annabeth had braced herself across two seats, arms fully extended, legs braced to move and adjust. Her eyes were alert, but still calm and composed, as if telling all that she had seen and survived worse.

For Violet, though, he was sure she was convinced this was what the end of the world would look like. He found himself thrown next to her, meeting her eyes for just a second. Neither bothered to move away.

Water cascaded over the side, but was thrown out just as quickly. They hardly noticed, already beyond soaking wet. Violet's hair was clinging to her face, water cascading off her limbs in torrents. They huddled in the bow end, as the storm continued on. All they could hear was rushing water, and the crack of thunder over their heads.

Their end of the boat began to rise at an alarming rate. Will peeked his head up to see that they were now hitting the waves head on, instead of sideways. The bow, their end, was climbing up a particularly steep wave, easily pulled by the tide. The bottom became increasingly slippery, and he found himself sliding downwards toward the others, all barely managing to hold on themselves. The boat was nearly vertical by the time he found a handhold, snaking one arm around a bench style seat, and the other arm around Violet's waist, as she was too short to reach the same hold. She didn't argue, just wrapped her arms around him tightly. His arms screamed with the effort, but it didn't even occur to him to let go—he was like the mother lifting the car off her child; capable of superhuman feats when it came to saving his significant other—as the wave just kept lifting them upwards. They were going to capsize any moment when Violet looked up at him.

She must have been yelling, but the sound barely reached his ears over the roaring.

"I'm sorry!" She screamed.

He was too shocked to say anything for a second. Violet was...backing down? Meeting demands? She must really have thought she was going to die any second.

"I love you!" He yelled back.

"I love you too!"

The wave finally broke, and they were pushed into a more sane angle as they raced down the back side of the wave. He immediately pressed his lips to Violet's, pulling his body as close to hers as possible.

"Guys!" Jane screeched. "Not now!"

Elwood just raised an irritated eyebrow, while Annabeth directed a pitying glare in their direction.

"You guys are morons." She said, but neither heard her.

Will and Violet exchanged a smile, just as the rain picked up and yet another wave hit.


	15. Prayer Pants

The clouds didn't clear away for some time, but when they finally did, a dark, star spangled sky was exposed. The waves quieted to a gentle lull, the rain a drizzle and then non existent, the wind following suit. They spent most of the night bailing out the considerably water logged boat.

The sun was coming up over the water when they finally collapsed from exhaustion.

Jane awoke in the afternoon, to find the rest of her group still out cold. She took stock, making sure none of them were dead, and then checking to see what supplies they'd lost. Elwood had lost his pack somewhere in the chaos of the storm, which meant there water store had taken a hit, as well ambrosia and nectar. He'd held on to his deck of cards, though.

She momentarily panicked, searching her pockets desperately. She let out her breath when she found it, zipped in one of the pockets of her cargo pants. She looked at the tiny slip of paper, and it did not bring her the calm she was hoping for. She looked at Elwood, asleep next to her.

She'd come across the paper kind of by accident, but also kind of on purpose. She wasn't looking for _it,_ per se, but the opportunity presented itself and she took it without needing to think. Split open the frame in Chiron's office and snatched it easily away. That had been a few months ago. It had been replaced in the office, with one that showed both of them, as if meant to personally stab her in the heart, pointing out her thievery.

_Give it up_, it seemed to scream at her now. _Forget about this._

She looked at Elwood. He brought her more happiness than the paper, the tiny wisp of a dream that she was making way too much of a big deal out of, but still couldn't bring herself to let go of. She looked at Annabeth, powerful and beautiful even in sleep. She looked Will and Violet, asleep in each other's arms, as they should be. Living the dream.

No, this little slip of paper was giving her exactly jack shit. It was the reason she was probably gonna die in this fucking boat, in the middle of this fucking ocean, in some god forsaken part of this fucking planet. For absolutely no good reason, no good intention. At least not on her part.

m m m

A heavy silence had fallen over them, once they'd seen the grand total of drinkable water, all poured into one water bottle that was barely even three quarters full.

"So that gives us a day, or so? Maybe two?"

Violet shrugged.

"So we're hoping for a miracle, huh?"

Violet looked at Will, and he wasn't sure she was joking when she said her next sentence. "You better get your prayer pants on."

"I only have the one pair."

She snorted, suppressing a smile. He grinned at her. They were still riding the high from not being mad at each other anymore. The other members of the group were not amused.

"Well, isn't there something we can do?" Jane asked.

"No landmarks to navigate by, I don't know the stars well enough to get my bearings. Anyways, we lost the paddle in the storm, so we couldn't steer anyway." Annabeth replied, still calm and composed as ever. "It would appear that our only hope is to wash up on shore, or get picked up by a boat. But the odds of both are astronomical, assuming we're actually in an ocean somewhere."

Jane swore, looking at her feet. Elwood squeezed her shoulder, as though that might offer some comfort.

"So we wait?" Will asked, having turned somber.

"So we wait." Annabeth affirmed.

Will had a headache from dehydration, and hadn't eaten barely anything in the last few days. His exposed skin was hot, but the breeze kicked up by the waves was enough to make him not want to take off his coat. His body was miserable. His soul was getting there.

At least he didn't have to worry about holding a grudge against Violet anymore. He had to work to hold a grudge against anyone, having a naturally forgiving personality.

The red sun was finally disappearing beneath the blue horizon. It was picturesque, really, and all five were mesmerized by it, before it dipped beneath the waves.

There was a queasy feeling of dread when he finally sunk down to the belly of the boat next to Violet. On of the blue fires was burning in the palm of Elwood's hand, lighting the boat slightly. It wasn't burning him, but somehow it had generated enough heat to cook the fish from the day before. They'd all gotten about a mouthful of meat off it. It did nothing to quell the rumbling in his stomach.

The sky had become an indecisive gray again, instead of the never ending field of stars like the night before. He prayed silently to hold off on another storm—he wasn't sure he could deal with that kind of stress again. He decided praying wasn't a bad idea at the moment, so he continued, going through the usual words of greeting to his father. Then he moved on to wishing for salvation for himself, of course, and then Violet, and his sister and Annabeth and Elwood and Percy and everyone at camp because now he was on a roll. But he inevitably came back to the 'not dying in this boat' thing. He could only hope Apollo was paying attention, and actually had the will and energy to do something about it. Unfortunately, the odds weren't necessarily in his favor.

He looked at Violet, whose eyes were closed, curled into a ball with her jacket tight around her shoulders. He couldn't tell if she was asleep or not, and wondered idly if she was praying. It wasn't really her style—though she wasn't bitter toward her mother or anything—she just preferred to keep everything in her own hands, not have to worry about someone else coming through. He figured this had something to do with her Daddy issues, having trouble being able to rely on another. He liked to think she relied on him, but she wasn't easy to read, and most of this was just his own speculation anyway. He sighed, thinking how exactly uncharted she was. And he knew her better than anyone. Irritating.

Sleep was not coming to him. He sat up quietly, hoping not to disturb the others, and peered over the port side of the boat. It was nearly pitch black—but a half moon was shining through the cloud cover just enough to show the line between sky and water on the horizon. There was something else, though, he could swear it was too light. Something was glowing, more than a moon and his own adapting night vision.

He turned to his right, and was fairly sure his heart stopped.

"Holy shit." He murmured. _I'm going insane. Shit, man, I'm going insane. Fucking hallucinating. _Delirious from lack of food and water, sleep deprived. Hallucinating.

Despite his own disbelief at the sight, he shook Violet awake. She groaned, muttering curses in Greek and English.

"Violet, Violet, you gotta see this. Seriously." He said, urgently pulling her into a sitting position. Her brow furrowed, she rubbed at her eyes before squinting in the direction he pointed.

The others were roused from sleep, too, and soon they were all staring off the starboard side. He didn't think he was crazy anymore—or maybe they all were.

Violet was the first to speak. "What the fuck is that?"


	16. Start Making Sense

**Author's Note: Well, I'm back. Finally. I've had a busy month and this was a tricky chapter to tackle. Also, there's only a few chapters left. Three at most. Anyways, sorry for the delay and please review!**

"And that, my dear, is why having a God as a parent is useful." Elwood announced to no one in particular.

"I suppose this proves prayer isn't complete bullshit?" Violet asked. Will wasn't sure if she was really asking, judging by the smirk on her chapped lips.

"Looks like the tide'll carry us in." Annabeth said, getting back to business. "Anybody recognize the coastline?"

"I think it's Miami." Jane said, squinting at the horizon.

"How do you know?" Elwood asked.

"My mom and stepdad live here." She explained.

"Would they let us stay with them for a night and cleanup?" Annabeth asked.

Jane shrugged. "Probably, if they're in town."

Annabeth was rummaging through the few remaining backpacks, pulling out the baggies full of cash Chiron had packed for the trip. They passed around the water bottle, each taking a long, final sip.

"We might have enough to rent a car and drive back to New York." She declared. "Once we get on land."

Will was still in shock when they began to float into the port area, along with a few other small fishing boats. A few miles down the way, a huge cruise ship loomed, lit up like a Christmas tree. This was so beyond his wildest thoughts—despite his attempts to pray to his father. The Gods were busy. Demigods died all the time because of it. He couldn't help but think that their rescue had more to do with Annabeth's presence than anyone else on board. She was important, he knew. She and Percy were needed more than any of them.

Either way, though, they were alive.

They floated forward until the bumped into a wooden dock, and Annabeth reached for a rope to pull the boat close. She tied it to a post to keep it in place while she climbed on to the deck.

Elwood followed, extending a steadying hand to Jane, climbing up after them. Once on the dock, he lifted her up easily into his arms, and despite her startled expression she wrapped her legs around his waist to look down at his grinning face.

"We're not dead," he said.

"I noticed." She said coolly, and they both seemed to have the same thought at the same moment. She pointed her head downwards, he tilted his until their lips met, awkwardly for a moment before they both relaxed.

Violet grabbed Will's hand and helped him hoist himself from the boat. She nudged him in the ribs once he'd remembered how to stand up.

"That's unexpected," she commented.

"You're not the best at observing people, you know."

"You mean it was obvious?"

He smiled at her. "Never mind."

Jane and Elwood were now following Annabeth, hand in hand, down the wooden dock, toward the lights of the city. A small piece of paper fluttered from Jane's fingertips, and she didn't bend to pick it up. Will reached down to grab it, and opened his mouth to call to her, before something stopped.

"Oh," he muttered. "Oh, that makes sense."

Violet glanced around his shoulder, and raised an eyebrow. "Well that's a twist."

The paper was heavy grade, picture paper. The picture itself was a school photo, taken in front of the trademark blue background. Will had the vaguest memory of seeing it in Chiron's office, among many photos like it of other memorable demigods. He was pretty sure there was a snapshot of him and Violet from last summer.

This one, though, was a shot of Percy Jackson, circa age fifteen.

How long had Jane had this crush? He wondered idly. When did she realize it was unfruitful and defer to a better match?

Percy was good looking, accomplished, confident. A chick magnet, a title the Stoll brothers had bestowed upon him. But he was Annabeth's, and Annabeth was his. This sort-of quest just drove that point home even further. But they both knew that that's what crushes did—they push you a little bit over the edge. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn't.

Will glanced at Jane a moment longer, before letting the picture slip from his fingers and vanish between the boards of the dock. It was almost as if Percy had been traveling with them, the person weighing silently on all their minds, even when their own predicament was so far out of some semblance of reality that they feared a gruesome and unbelievable death. Will hoped the loss of the picture wasn't some kind of symbolism for giving up, some kind of admission to his being truly gone. He looked to Annabeth's pointed stride, the way she carried her chin up, each leg length long and graceful. She wouldn't stop looking—of that the whole posse was sure.

He exchanged a look with Violet, who had just finished pulling the remaining packs from the bottom of the filthy canoe. They began the short walk in to the populated part of the port. A couple stepping off a sailboat caught their eyes, and looked puzzled by the disheveled teenagers, speckled with sweat and blood. Will nodded to them and smiled, leaving any conclusion they may have been drawing ambiguous.

m m m

Jane's stepdad was the manager of a chain hotel on the Miami beach. Jane managed to navigate them there, after several accidental detours. They arrived in the sparkling lobby, tracking all manner of unfortunate substance on the carpet.

"Dave Blanchetta or Danielle Rumsey on duty?" Jane asked politely, ignoring the bellboy's stares.

"Uhhh, I'll call him."

"Thank you."

Dave Blanchetta was tall and in his mid fifties, tanned and blonde with a hint of gray at his temples. He had the slightest hint of paunch in profile, and smiled warmly when he saw Jane. Despite her layer of grime, he wrapped her in a tight hug.

Violet's eyes became completely unreadable as she observed the reunion. Will could guess what she was thinking about—her own familial complications. He poked her in the ribs, but she shook him off, ignoring him.

Dave had a vacancy that night, and he lent out rooms free of charge to the teenagers. Jane said it would just be for a night before they'd head back to New York, though he encouraged them to stay as long as they liked. They were on the twelfth floor, getting a panoramic view of the beach. They had each been given their own room, though Will crossed the hall to Violet's almost immediately.

She was on the terrace, leaning against the railing and staring out sightlessly. The lights of Miami lit the black sky, the guiding buoys reflecting off the water. Will could still see the cruise ship that was parked in port next to them. Far, far, below them, a spa and pool was lit aquamarine.

"I s'pose we won't be jumping into _that _pool." Will commented, joining her.

She didn't reply, and he inspected the dried blood and bruising on her face from her beating by the mysterious soldiers on the hill, back in San Francisco, which might as well have been a million years.

"You seem a tad stoic," he gazed on her, waiting for her to meet his eyes.

It was a long time before she replied. "I guess it just feels weird to be that close to death, and then to be miraculously saved."

Will sighed, looking away. "We're the children of Gods. We die a lot, but there are some perks."

Violet chewed one her thumbnail absently.

"You should call your dad," he blurted.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I'm way too tired to talk about this right now."

"Sorry. That was out of line."

She paused, then bit her lip so hard it looked painful. "You're probably right."

He slipped down the railing, and dangled his legs through the spaces between the bars in exhaustion. After a moment, Violet bent down and kissed him on the temple gently.

"I'm gonna shower," she told him. "Come in soon."

He nodded, taking her place with a vacant stare at the sepia and black landscape.

m m m

After several close calls of almost collapsing in the shower, Violet stumbled from the bathroom, towel wrapped around her torso. Will was stepping through the sliding door, closing it silently behind him and stepping out of his shoes simultaneously.

"What time is it?" Violet asked, rubbing at her eyelids.

"Midnight."

"'Kay."

She shed the towel and climbed under the covers of the double bed. Will showered as quickly and vigorously as possible, scraping the blood and dirt and God knows what else off his limbs and face. Emerging again, Violet's eyes were closed, though her breathing wasn't deep enough for her to be fully asleep yet. A part of her back peeked out from under the comforters, and he saw and old white scar running lengthwise across the pale skin. Slipping in next to her, he traced it with one finger, and she shifted on her side to face him.

He didn't know where the energy came from, but soon his lips were against hers, their bodies pressing together with promise and familiarity and excitement that never left. Needless to say, it was a while before they slept.


	17. Satisfaction in Ignorance

**Author's Note: Well, this is it. The last chapter. I'm fairly sure it's the longest story I've ever posted. Anyways, I hope people enjoyed it, and please PLEASE review. You'll seriously make my day. Seriously. **

**~Lafayette**

The harsh glare of sunlight on snow caught his eye the moment he stepped from the Big House. It almost made him miss the Florida weather, left behind days before. They had arrived back at camp that morning, just in time for the meeting.

The new kids, Jason, Piper, and Leo, had had a much more fruitful journey.

"_Percy Jackson is at the Roman camp and probably has no idea who he is."_

Will rubbed at the bridge of his nose and sighed. There was no denying it now, after they'd compared stories. They were at war yet again.

It felt like years since he'd slept in the Apollo cabin. He stepped over the golden threshold, and took in the familiar messiness, the art projects strewn about, instruments laid around randomly with sheet music always underfoot. His bed was remarkably and starkly barren in contrast, and he tossed his backpack on the top bunk bed. The rest of his siblings were at their usual camp activities for the day, and a glance at the clock on the wall told him that he had been in the meeting the better part of the morning.

He knew he should be happy to be home, but at least on the quest he could pretend that this was all some fluke and Percy had just accidentally wandered off, unlikely though it seemed. Now it was impossible to ignore, and with it came that aching fear of death, and not just for himself.

He headed across the way, snow crunching under his boots before he clambered up the steps of the Athena cabin. Violet had not been at the meeting, as she was not a head counselor, and so it was apparent that she had spent the morning cleaning up and unpacking. Her dark red hair was wet and combed neatly, already drying in the warmth of the heated cabin. A pile of folded and washed clothing lay on her bed, next to a stacks of scholarly looking textbooks. Sometimes he forgot how Violet, who had no penchant for strategy, was still essentially an Athena kid, always collecting knowledge on the things that piqued her interest. The top book was on Mendeleev and the origins of the periodic table, while the one below that was on neurobiology and degenerative brain illnesses.

Violet herself wore yoga pants and a long sleeve t shirt as she did perfect push ups on the floor by her bed. She got up when she saw him.

"How'd it go?" she asked, her eyes giving a once over of his still disheveled appearance.

"Hmpf."

"That good, huh?" Her sunburn had become less lobster-esque, the bruises on her face turned yellow and green. The cuts were a less angry shade of red, too.

He told her about the meeting, and the general consensus among the cabin leaders. They'd be building a boat, of all things, and flying to Greece with the Romans, or so they hoped.

"This is insane," she muttered, after he'd finished. She took a heavy seat on the side of her bed.

"I wouldn't go so far to say its the craziest thing that has ever happened to us," he replied. "But it's up there."

She put her arms around his neck and hugged him gently. It was the sincerest form of comfort he could imagine, because after news like that any verbal assurances would be superficial and meaningless. No, everything would not be okay. But I'll at least be here with you with the shit hits the fan.

m m m

The Hecate kids were holding a party on the beach that evening to celebrate the successful return of their brother, and one of the first children of the magic goddess to partake in a Camp Half-Blood quest.

Violet did not like water. Over the last couple of weeks, impulsivity had won out once, at a motel in Salt Lake City, and necessity had had her in close confrontations with a vicious ocean only a few days later. But Will was dragging her down the path at seven in the evening anyway, despite the hellish and freezing weather.

"It'll be fun."

"I'm tired and cold and pissed off," she replied irritably. "What part of that sounds like fun to you?"

The beach already was alive with talk and laughter, and from somewhere a warmth radiated. It took Violet a moment to locate the blue flames dancing below the water of the Long Island sound, a Hecate kid occasionally blowing on one from a distance. The flames must have been warming the water also, as people had begun to wade into the shallow sound. Soon the air had achieved sufficient toastiness, and Violet could strip off her coat. The sky was pitch except for the twinkling of country stars, the water the same color except in the patches of flickering flame.

A few refreshments were being served, and occasionally Chiron would trot through and examine everyone's cup for booze. Most had heard of the news by now—that the camp was once again in danger. But there was no sense of dread in the air yet, as though people were dwelling on one last night of peace.

Will stripped down to his bathing suit and immediately plunged in, joining a few of his siblings in the lukewarm water. Violet wandered around for a while, saying hello to a few friends and siblings, her mood somewhat lightened. Some bid her a "welcome back" or "glad you're not dead" before returning to their conversations.

After a time, she found herself next to a quiet Annabeth, sipping on a drink of unspecified substance.

"At least we know where he is now," Violet made an attempt to soothe her sister's tensed jaw.

"So close, yet so far," she replied.

"That was very poetic."

"Hardly." If possible, Annabeth looked even more plagued after their quest than before.

"We'll figure it out," Violet said, after a long pause. "We always do."

"It's just a shame we always have to."

Violet could see the weariness in her eyes, then, and the sheer amount of work ahead laid heavily on her own shoulders, also. She stood there a while longer, in companionable silence, until Violet took her leave without a word.

m m m

Jane had been suspended in an incomparable euphoric state for three days now, and not even a new war was having any luck wearing it off.

Elwood had stayed at her side during the party, proudly announcing to all his siblings that yes, this girl right here what his girlfriend. She'd giggled—a sound she was fairly sure had never come out of her esophagus before—and learned all the Hecate kids names and strange talents (of which there were many). Elwood had also been recapping their journey, with Jane occasionally adding in details when the need arose. It was probably the most individual attention she had ever received, and to her tremendous surprise it wasn't too objectionable. And that's what being with Elwood did—it put you in the spotlight (because that's where Elwood inevitably was), but didn't make you feel alone.

The party showed no signs of winding down by midnight, and despite the dour news that she heard involving the results of the son of Zeus' quest, she could not bring herself to properly sulk or worry. Not when she was lying in the sand with Elwood's arm around her shoulders, his purple hair always in the corner of her vision, and watching other people manage to relax with the same knowledge she had.

For once, things were close to perfect for Jane Rumsey.

At some point she found herself watching Will and Violet, as watching was one of her best skills. It's how she came to think she was in love with Percy Jackson, after all. But Will and Violet were always interesting to watch, because they were an odd couple. And Jane had come to think those were the best kind of couples. At the moment, the two were curled up by the dock, Will still dripping wet from his swim. Violet didn't seem to care though, as he had his arms around her from behind, both sitting contentedly and watching the water. They had that smile on their lips that was the epitome of satisfaction, an expression that would make anyone jealous.


End file.
